Fall Comdex 1997 Reviewed

Day one - Sunday, November 16, 1997
This year, for the first time, the opening Comdex keynote was held on theSunday night before the opening of Comdex, not that morning. Trying to beatthe crowds into Vegas--an estimated 215,000 people will attend this year'sshow--Joe and I left Arizona at 7:00 a.m. Sunday and arrived at the city ofsin at exactly 7:00 a.m. Sunday thanks to the wonders of Daylight Savings Time. And as expected, we beat the crowds into town for the first time ever. Of course, Vegas is still quiet this early, so nothing was openexcept for the restaurants and casinos.

We ate breakfast and headed over to the Las Vegas Convention Center at theHilton to pick up our press passes, hoping to beat the crowds there as well. The Hilton is undergoing massive additions and renovations, not the least of which is the new "Star Trek--the Experience," which will open in January, supposedly. Of course, this thing has been delayed more times thanWindows 98, so call first if you're coming to Vegas to check it out.

Joe in front of the Las Vegas Hilton, which had some serious
construction going on.

After wandering around inside the Convention Center, watching people tryingto get their booths up, we figured out the new exterior layout--the whole place has changed due to the construction--and finally found the registration tent. Needless to say, the Web-based registration we completedin August was mysteriously missing from the Comdex computers, so we spent afew mindless hours getting our badges straightened out. I somehow ended upwith an exhibitor's badge as well as my press badge though I haven't yetdecided how/when I will abuse it.

We spent the afternoon watching football and then headed out for the keynote...early, as it turned out. We had forgotten about the Daylight Savings Time issue, and arrived 2-1/2 hours early, rather than the 1-1/2 wehad planned. Bill Gates' keynote address is always heavily anticipated andyou need to spend some serious time in line if you want to see it live, andeven at this early hour, there were numerous people waiting. We headed upto the pre-keynote media event, but that was about as boring as you canimagine, with media "luminaries" such as Cheryl Currid droning on and onabout NCs and sealed-case PCs. I can't believe anyone that really careswhat these people think, but there was a pretty good crowd in there, mostof whom were probably hanging around for the eventual buffet. We took offand headed outside to check out the line.

Outside, two lines circled the Aladdin Imperial Theater as geeks gatheredto hear their leader speak. A (bad) Bill Gates impersonator worked the crowd, promoting a parody CD-ROM called "Microshaft Winblows 98." Wethreatened a wedgie and he moved on. Eventually, the let the press intothe theater and we grabbed a seat down front. Each seat had a nice Comdexbadge holder and an "I love my PC" T-shirt that underscored the anti-NCtheme of Gates' keynote. The audience quickly filled the theater, with overflow crowds herded into video-equipped rooms.

Bill Gates was introduced like a rock star, with booming music and a lightshow.

Bill Gates at the Fall 1997 Comdex keynote address.

"Good evening. When someone first told me that I was scheduled to give this speech on Sunday night, I was worried that nobody would come," Gatessaid to thunderous applause. "But, I guess I've been in the news enough recently to attract a little attention."

The keynote drove home Microsoft's desire to extend the life of the Windows-based PC, with some nice anti-DOJ and anti-NC humor thrown in forgood measure. Gates started off with a Letterman-style "top ten list of whyhe love his PC." This brought more laughs from the obviously pro-Microsoftcrowd.

"Has somebody done this before?" he joked.

Gates' Top 10 Reasons I Love My PC.

The top ten list was obviously meant to be humorous and it contained somenice jabs at Ralph Nader ("I can use Microsoft PowerPoint to show Ralph Nader my Corvair collection") and the DOJ ("In just one weekend, I can sitat my PC, collaborate with attorneys all over the world, comment on a 48-page legal brief, and email it to the Department of Justice"). Gates then got serious and discussed his concepts of the "digital nervous system"and "Web lifestyle."

The Gates keynote was remarkable for the number of special guests, including an excellent U.S. Marine major that uses specially protectedWindows laptops and Windows CE handheld PCs in the battlefield, and KareemAbdul-Jabbar, who only recently started using computers and had troublesingle-clicking hyperlinks in Internet Explorer. The world's richest manstepped in to help, to the delight of the audience. The keynote also featured numerous videos, including an incredible parody of the famousVolkswagen "da da da" ad where two young men pick up an old chair, only tolater drop it off when they realize it smells. In the Microsoft version,Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are in the Volkswagen, with Gates pulling onthe little skeleton and nodding along to the music. They pick up a Sun Sparc, only to later realize it smells, so they drop it back in the trash.It was easily the highlight of the night.

Kareem Adbul-Jabbar joins Gates onstage.

Gates discussed the problems with today's computers and said that Microsoftwas working on simplifying its programs and operating systems.

"Now, the next major upgrade of Windows NT will be a very major milestonefor us," he said. "It's not just the application architecture, the directory architecture, the security architecture, but, most important, it's the things that we've done in driving forward lower cost of ownership.That's a big part of the simplicity campaign."

Chris Capossela of the NT 5 team joined Gates to demonstrated a new featurecalled IntelliMirror, which allows clients on a Windows NT 5 network tostore their user preference settings, data, and other critical informationon a central server. This has numerous benefits, such as the ability forusers to use any machine and retain their settings and get access to theirdata. Also, as Capossela demonstrated, it allows a user to get a totallynew machine and have it automatically set up for them when it first comesonline.

The IntelliMirror feature was slow and buggy ("Snappy," Gates commenteddryly while waiting for a screen refresh) and it is not currently availablein the beta 1 build of NT 5 that is currently circulating among testers. However, it was clear from the demo that this technology is real and it works well. Gates said that IntelliMirror would debut in beta 2, due "earlynext year."

Overall, the keynote was one of Gates' better presentations. Interestingly,there was no mention of Windows 98 or Hydra. Joe and I proceeded to MonteCarlo after the keynote and ate the largest slabs of beef we had ever seen:2-inch thick Prime Ribs whose size cannot be exaggerated. I love this town.


Day two - Monday, November 17, 1997
Monday morning we did the lemming thing and stood in line for an hour or soto catch a bus to the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is the main hallfor Fall Comdex. We met up with the WUGNET guys--Larry, Joel, and Howard--in the press tent, made plans for lunch, and then Joe and I headedinto the fray. As usual, Microsoft's massive booth dominated the frontthird of the main convention center, with numerous theaters, product centers, and a huge partner pavilion, that used to be housed outside in aseparate facility. The Las Vegas Hilton, which sits next to the ConventionCenter, is undergoing massive renovations and additions, which are causingsome problems for the show. Microsoft took this opportunity to move itspartners inside, causing it to even more clearly overshadow the rest of the hall.

Las Vegas Convention Center with the floppy version of Exchange
Server out front (that's Paul behind the construction fence).

Microsoft's booth was so huge, in fact, that we saw nothing else beforelunch. The main theater was showing Internet Explorer and Windows demonstrations all day, drawing standing-room only crowds. The booth waspacked, as it was right inside the front door, and getting around wasdifficult.

Microsoft's booth was huge, crowded, and noisy.

Microsoft was showing a new keyboard, the Natural Keyboard Elite, whichwill be available in February. This new keyboard is 18% smaller than the original one, and includes USB and PS/2 ports. Also on display was the newIntelliMouse Trackball, which is now available. I'm quite taken with thistrackball, and will buy one when I get home. A new joystick, the SidewinderForce Feedback Pro is something to behold, and compatible games offer an experience above and beyond normal game play. This is a must-have for any serious gamer, though it's expensive at $150. I'll be buying one of theseas well; It's available now.

Outlook 98 was on display, with junk email filtering topping the gotta-have-it list. We'll have a full review of Outlook 98

here soon; it's a winner.

I had a chance to meet Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's executive vice presidentof sales and support. The number two man at Microsoft, Steve was wanderingthe show floor just like anyone else, and is a cool guy.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer meets Paul Thurrott.
Yes, he is always smiling like that (Steve, not Paul).

In a second theater, Microsoft was performing BackOffice, Office 97, andSmall Business Solutions presentations. Small Business Server, with itsWeb-like front-ends for common administrative tasks, looks great. This isthe first version of BackOffice that normal humans can actually use, butits inability to upgrade past 25 users is a serious limitation.

Overheard on the tradeshow floor: Microsoft Internet Explorer has eateninto Netscape's lead again. According to DataQuest and Alta Vista, IE'sshare of the browser market has jumped to 39.4% while Netscape's has fallenfrom 73% last year to 57.6%. Dataquest predicted that Microsoft wouldsurpass Netscape in mid-1998. Interestingly, Microsoft says its share is even higher: a survey it conducted in October found its share to be 41%while Netscape's were only 50%.

Microsoft was also showing off "Hydra," which is now officially known asWindows-based Terminal Server 4.0. Beta 1 will be available soon, thoughthe test field will be small. Microsoft is promising a larger test,possibly public, for beta 2. Interestingly, they showed a Macintosh clientfor Hydra, in addition to a Windows 95 client.

Windows CE 2.0 devices were seen throughout the booth and, indeed, theentire convention. CE 2.0 looks good, with color support and numerousdifferent types of hardware.

The crowds swelled at the Microsoft theatres. Look at those geeks.

Other theaters showed Visual Studio 97 demos, and we sat through ExchangeServer and SQL Server presentations. Exchange Server 5.5 was officiallyreleased today, and Microsoft dropped the bomb during the announcement thatNT 5.0 would be delayed until the second half of 1998, not mid-1998 aspreviously thought. Exchange Server 5.5 includes Outlook 8.03, though Outlook 98 will be available for free when its ready in early 1998. AWeb-based version of Outlook was particularly impressive. Unfortunately,the SQL Server demo didn't include any information about the next version.

We met up with the WUGNET guys at Piero's, a great Italian restaurant thatwas offering up free tortellini, shrimp, and other fine food for the press.It was a good chance to relax and rest the feet. Everyone at WUGNET hadgotten a 3Com PalmPilot and the testimonials rolled in. Maybe I shouldget one of those too, and ditch the almost useless CE machine I use.

Show note: I wore my new South Park "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" t-shirtand was quite a hit. Apparently, I'm not the only one with a sick sense ofhumor: People were pointing at me and begging me to tell them where I gotit, but it was a gift. Thanks, Jeff!

After the throbbing in our feet had subsided a bit, Joe and I headed backinto the crowd at the main convention hall. Philips had an impressive booth, showing everything from beautiful 52" plasma flat-panel displaysand 20" LCD computer monitors to Windows CE 2.0 and WebTV Plus devices.

Comdex show floor.

Hitachi is offering a Libretto competitor called the Vision Book Traveller.This Hitachi mini-notebook measures only 9.2"x6.8"x1.3" and weighs only 2.7pounds with two batteries, but offers a Pentium 133 MMX CPU and Windows 95.

Umax was showing off its NC-300, which is an Oracle-style NC that offersWindows terminal emulation through Citrix. The Umax system offers a nice,simple user interface and is clearly enough computer for most people.Netscape Navigator 3.03, email, address book, calendar, and word processingcapabilities are built-in.

Lotus and its parent company IBM were hawking Domino and Notes Internetsolutions, while a Lotus theater promised a preview of its upcoming eSuitefor Java NCs. We missed the eSuite demo, but will try to catch it tomorrow.

Intel's Pentium II guys were boogying away in the LVCC.

In the bowels of the Hilton were other booths, made all the more distantby the construction. After finally figuring out how to get over there, wewere surprised that Netscape was nowhere to be seen; they've been at theHilton for the past few years. CompuServe was sporting a new "C" logo andtouting its new 4.0 software. Intergraph was showing off new graphics workstations and incredible 3D video cards. They promised to ship a Voodoo2-based 3DFX video card early next year.

By this time, it was just about 5:00 p.m., so we headed back to the mediatent to rest our feet again and check our email. Meeting up with GeorgeBeekman, a computer book author and college instructor from Oregon, weheaded out to the Stardust ballroom, where Multi-tech hosted an incrediblefree buffet dinner, with a stage show. No one seemed to know who Multi-techwas exactly, but this was one of the best meals I've ever had, with tablesheaped high with shrimp, prime rib, meatballs, cheeses, fruit, and more.We kept waiting to get thrown out but no one else seemed to understand whythis was being given away either. We stuck around and listened to the livemusic, which consisted of mostly-80's songs for the Comdex crowd. It wasquite the get-together.

Tomorrow, we'll be heading to the second site at the Sands ConventionCenter.


Day Three - Tuesday, November 18,1997
Tuesday morning Joe and I decided to cover some of the booths at the LasVegas Convention Center that we missed the day before. First, though, weheaded up to the Microsoft press room, above the show floor, to pick upvideos of the Gates keynote and collect some press info on their newproducts. Microsoft was pushing Exchange 5.5, Outlook 98, Windows 98, theSidewinder Force Feedback Pro joystick, and Windows CE 2.0. After a fewminutes in the mind control booth, we headed back down to the floor withan insatiable urge to buy anything with the Microsoft logo on it. That would pass with time, we figured.

Joe ten seconds before he almost got arrested
(note security guards in front).

Next stop was the massive Sony booth, where we returned to drool over themassive LCD and plasma flat displays. This technology is currently tooexpensive for most people, including us, but they've clearly developed to the point that they will soon be common items. Expect to pay a premium for the short term for the luxury of flat panel nirvana. Sony was also showingoff its new VAIO laptops, which look fantastic, along with a cool new dock.

Sony, like Philips, was showing off killer LCD and Plasma displays.

After another quick pass around the floor, we headed over to the SandsConvention Center, site of the second show area. The Sands is always thebargain-basement edition of Comdex, and this year was no different. Most ofthe space at the Sands was filled with low-end hardware distributors (whowere pushing PC cases, cables, and the like) though there were a fewexceptions.

Most notable was Creative Labs, which was showing off a pre-production version of its upcoming 3DFX Voodoo 2-based 3D Blaster video card. Creatively dubbed the "3D Blaster Voodoo 2," this card will replace the existing Verite-based 3D Blaster when it is released in February. Sufficeto say we were blown away by this card; both Joe and I are planning to buyone the day they came out. At the show, Creative was demoing a game calledTurok, Dinosaur Hunter, that was getting well over 100 Frames Per Second(FPS) at 800 x 600 resolution. We had heard about this card getting killerframe rates at Quake 2, but seeing it in person is hard to describe. Bestyet, the 3D Blaster Voodoo 2, like other Voodoo 2 cards, can be linked toa second card to literally double its speed.

Rival video companies Play! and NewTek were showing off their latestproducts as well. Play! has released a new version of its popular Snappyvideo capture tool, which is a bargain at $100. NewTek, formerly thedarlings of the Amiga video market, are making a run with NT graphicsworkstations although an Amiga tower machine was prominently displayed intheir booth. NewTek was also pushing a new version of LightWave 3D, version5.5, for Windows NT.

We left the Sands faster than Microsoft dropped Bob and headed over to theSharper Image at the local mall for a free foot massage on their displaymachines. Hey, our dogs were dying and as lame as this sounds, we spent a lot of time trying to justify a $3000 massage chair purchase. My God.

With no taxis to be had, we ended up walking down the strip to the hotel.Forgoing the party schedule once again, we rested up and ate two more monster steaks, this time at the Circus Circus steak house, creativelynamed "the Steak House."

And then, we crashed. Hey, we're lame.

But Keith Furman of WUGNET is not lame. Keith decided to go to the exclusive Spencer the Katt party. Here is his account:

One of COMDEX 97's hottest events was held this year at the Harley Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas. Ziff Davis's PCWeek's late nite Spencer Katt gathering. Spencer Katt, PCW's Rumor columnist, host's this "must attend" event whereanybody whose anybody in the computer industry parties! (Note: this explainsthe absence of WinInfo's Paul Thurrott and Joseph Jones).

Before coming to my first Comdex, I've heard numerous times that getting ticketsfor Katt was nearly impossible: with a little luck and knowing the "right"folks, you might finally come upon an actual invitation. But an invite wasnever a problem, because the Windows Users Group Network (

WUGNET), thepublishing group that I attended Comdex with, were veteran Katt party animals.They were official "Gold Card" Katt card holders...I didn't realize howspecial the card was until we actually arrived at this year's Katt eventheld at the Harley Davidson Bar on Las Vegas Blvd.

Upon arrival on the first officially party night of Comdex, thecrowds waiting in line were incredible. Apparently, our

WUGNET contingent offour individuals (including myself and WUGNET's founder, Joel Diamond),avoided the lines thanks to our Gold status. As we walked pass the crowd, Inoticed that one individual waiting in line, Ted Waite, CEO of Gateway 2000.Apparently, the security folks at the door had no idea who Ted was andweren't letting him in. We turned to Ted and invited him to join us to avoid the linesand walk in with our group of "Wuggies". He accepted! (Thinking back, maybeI should have asked him if he had any extra Home PC Entertainment Centersfor testing... ). Ted wasn't the only one we helped get into the party... wehad a few extra invitations and offered them to a couple of friends, a PCComputing columnist, and the editors of Home Office Computing, and the CEOof Interactive Agency, a major PR firm in So. California.

(Read: If Paul and Joe weren't so lame, they would have gotten in).

I really had no idea who or what I would see, but within seconds of enteringthe bar, someone had mentioned that Microsoft's Steve Balmer had just left.I've heard from other Katt Party veterans that Steve is just the opposite ofBill G. regarding these parties...he's a real party animal. I'll just have toaccept what folks say. I wondered if Bill would show up.

Within 15 minutes, Joel took me aside and pointed out Bill Gates, the MicrosoftCEO, who had just slipped in a back door. We immediately walked overgreeted him, along with hundreds of others. When I had Bill'sattention, I told him how much I enjoyed his keynote on Sunday night (note: Keithdidn't even attend the keynote, the little kiss-a**. --Paul).Shortly afterwards, I lost sight of Bill G. until someone shouted... "Bill's on thedance floor". There he was, with at least 2 female partners, exhibiting oneof the strangest examples of nerd dancing I've ever seen. Bill might bethe richest man in the world and the great visionary of our century, butthe man can't dance .

I had a few different theories about who he was dancing with. Thankfully, it turns out that it was his wife, Melinda French.

The real fun of this event was getting the opportunity of personally meetingcomputer company executives and major press luminaries who are actuallyfamilar and friends of

WUGNET... from Michael Dell of Dell Computer,Compaq's Eckhard Pffeifer to the who's who in columnists like PC Week'sPeter Coffee, John Dvorak, SmartReseller's Mary Jo Foley, ABC Good MorningAmerica correspondent Gina Smith, and many more.


Day Three - Wednesday, November 19, 1997
Wednesday morning, WUGNET's Webmaster, Keith Furman, dragged our lazy buttsout of bed at a reasonable time (it took a few phone calls, but we finallymade it) and made us feel like idiots for not going to the Spencer the Kattparty. After a cattle-like breakfast at the Circus Circus buffet, the three of us headed over to the Stratosphere in a vain attempt to lose saidbreakfast riding the aptly-named "Big Shot" ride at the top of the 1100-footstructure. I did this last year, so I suppose this makes it a Comdex tradition now, but in case you've never heard of this thing, the Big Shotis a steeple-like structure on the top of the Stratosphere, the 6th-tallestfree-standing structure in the world. The Stratosphere looms over the restof Las Vegas like a metal version of Manute Bol; it's unbelievable.

Las Vegas as seen from the top of the Stratosphere.

With fear and trepidation in our hearts, we headed to the 110th floor andout into the open air. Making it worse, a ride launched up at 4Gs just aswe arrived on the roof, making us question the sanity of this ride. Ofcourse, we had to do it (and we have the picture to prove it) but we allcame away with new respect for astronauts and our own gastro-intestinalsystems. No one barfed, I mean.

After calming down a bit, we headed back to the LVCC for a bit so thatKeith could visit the Microsoft press room. Like lemmings, we also sat througha Windows 98 demo in one of the over-crowded Microsoft theaters.

"Windows at home" featured Windows 98 and its new TV
capabilities (that's Paul and Keith's heads there in front;
exiciting, eh?).

We also checked out a few morebooths, such as Matrox and Iomega. While you'd think that Iomega's ZIP diskwould long ago have fallen to the floppy-compatible LS-120, that hasn'tbeen the case, and Iomega was showing off numerous OEM editions of theirpopular drive. It seems that every major PC manufacturer is now offering acustom-made version of the ZIP for their customers. Oh, they handed outfree chocolate too, though that had nothing to do with this write-up. Theyrule.

Rolodex was showing off a cool device called "Rex" in the Microsoft booth (for somereason). Rex is an electronic personal information manager in the form of a PCMCIA(PC-Card) card that has an LCD display and four small buttons on the top.The way this little guy works is that you plug it into your computer (theysell the adaptor for desktop machines) and download all the info from anyleading PIM (such as Microsoft Outlook, Symantec Act or Lotus Organizer)into the PC card. Then, you carry it around in your wallet and use the GUIand buttons to access the information on the road. Folks, this thing kicksbutt. It retails about $150, and it's out now. I'd buy one if it cost lessthan $100 (hint, hint). Still, it's a useful tool. Check it out.

Keith, Joe, and I then headed over to New York, New York, the latesttragedy, er ah, casino, on the Las Vegas Strip. Designed as a mini-replicaof New York City, this casino features an outside roller coaster, smokingmanhole covers and fake trees. In other words, it's what New York wouldlook like if it were a casino in Las Vegas. Well, you get the idea.

We rode the roller coaster, which features two loops and a nice view ofVegas (given the speed), and Joe checked out a lame virtual reality machine in the arcade. After Keith left, Joe and I went to the bar in "Times Square" and waxed philosophical about Vegas and the show. Phraseslike "it's not worth it, man," and "it's a bug hunt, just a bug hunt"

permeated the conversation. Basically, Fall Comdex is a mess, and this year was messier than most. The big problem this year, really, was that no big products were announced and that the best demos we saw--Windows NT 5.0 IntelliMirror and Windows 98--are many months away.

Joe tries a VR game and comes away disapointed.

Of course, we're going back. How could we not? It's hard to get excited about the crowds, the aching feet, and the noise, however. I guess the monster prime ribs help, but in the end, the real allure of Comdex is the chance to see something really new.

Oh, and the trip home. That's nice too.