Bill Gates On Apple Keynote: "I Doubt What They've Done Is As Rich As PowerPoint"

by , 8:00 AM EST, January 9th, 2003

At this year's Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs introduced a program called Keynote that looks to be a great alternative to Microsoft's PowerPoint. What does Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates, have to say about it? In an already unintentionally funny article about smart watches, subscription services for those watches, and portable Xboxes on Yahoo! Finance, Bill Gates makes his position on Keynote bluntly obvious. Even though he hasn't seen Keynote, he "doubt[s] what they've done is as rich as PowerPoint." No, seriously. He actually said that. From Yahoo! Finance:

Gates' remarks came a day after Apple Computer Inc. introduced two new programs that compete with already-dominant software from Microsoft.

One of those new Apple products, called Keynote, is positioned to compete with Microsoft's PowerPoint, while a Web browser called Safari could replace Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac users.

"I doubt what they've done is as rich as PowerPoint," said Gates, who added he had not seen Apple's program.

You can read the entire article at Yahoo! Finance.

The Mac Observer Spin:

We wonder if Mr. Gates actually believes that it's possible that his own company could make software as well as Apple. OK, we'll give him AppleWorks. There's no comparison between Office v.X and AppleWorks (Office wins), and PowerPoint is certainly a good presentation solution. Your mileage may vary on that assessment.

However, in every other instance where Apple goes head to head with Microsoft, it is our opinion that Apple's titles are substantially better than Big Redmond's. We should include with that we are fans of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, and we definitely enjoy Office v.X. Our point is not to bash the company's Mac offerings, but to scoff at the mere thought that PowerPoint, for either Mac or Windows, comes anywhere near what we saw in Keynote. Again, your mileage may vary, and feel free to voice your opinion.

Yahoo! Finance