"Well Office XP is the biggest release we've had for over six years. And it's really the users who make the difference here. They're the ones who talk to each other, show each other what we've been able to advance here and considering the kinds of investments people make in knowledge workers... their salary, the network, the support... spending a few hundred dollars to let them have the latest productivity software we think is one of the more obvious investments that they'll have."
New features are designed to make collaboration and information gathering easier. If sales of the suite are stronger than analysts expects... Gates says combined with the fall release of Windows XP... the entire PC industry could get a much need boost...
"Well great software is what's always driven demand for PCs. PC sales were always underestimated. They've risen to a level that was never expected by any of the so called experts. Now it's very much a standard tool. The thing that drives that are software breakthroughs."
The question is will the XP packages create consumer and corporate demand. Bloomberg Bootcamp, I'm Fred Fishkin.