During his keynote address at CES tonight, Steve Ballmer made it official. The Windows 7 public beta will be made available for download on Friday, January 9th, 2009.

If you've been leery of downloading the version that's been all over the torrent trackers since last week, get your download manager ready and keep your browser tuned to Microsoft's Windows 7 page for the genuine article. Technet, MSDN, and TechBeta members have already been given access.

I've had my share of problems with the leaked version and am hoping that the official release is either a slightly newer build or at least free of the issues that I've had so far. Internet Eplorer 8 hasn't been working 100%, and Explorer itself has stopped responding repeatedly when I've tried to extract large zip archive or move multiple large files onto my flash drive.

We all saw Bill Gates sell something no one was buying, and Steve Jobs selling many things people really want in their respective keynotes this week. I am always the kind of person trying to find the meaning in it all. So, what do you think? I think Microsoft is putting out some decent software (Vista, Office, etc) but I think they have largely missed the boat on the digital lifestyle. Apple has that covered. I played with a Zune for the first time over the weekend, and I was actually quite impressed with the interface. Microsoft has done a great job of competing with the iPod, and by this I mean from a strictly device capabilities and functionality standpoint. Zune is just taking off, and the iPod has been around a while so you really can't compare sales numbers...yet. What about these "connected experiences" Microsoft is touting big time? I beg to differ, but I have been having connected experiences for ages now, and to me it seems that Microsoft is pushing old products in new wrappers. I remember the same speech about XP, it will do this better, it will do that better...yeah, but where is the new, cool, blow-me-away innovation? I didn't see it. Until I watched Jobs' keynote. Apple TV? Sign me up, good price, good features, works with PC or Mac, wirelessly anywhere in your house. Can you say "living room killer app." Also, despite Cingular's exclusive, required 2 year contract, and EDGE, the iPhone is also one of the best, most user-centered, all-in-one functional devices ever. It is dead sexy. Tell me, what has Microsoft come up with in this vein, something to create a huge demand or something to blow away the PC world? Sure, there is the XBOX 360 for gaming, but what in the computer space? I don't see the drive, the innovation, the passion for customers needs and fixing problems. I must say I was expecting a bit more from Microsoft. Is it enough that Microsoft only delivers a bit of eye-candy as the best innovation in a new product? I know they have the mindtrust to generate great new stuff, so why is it that Microsoft doesn't try to win anymore? Are they always behind the eight ball, or is this just my imagination? Also, what did you think of Apple's new stuff?

IBM has been out of the Consumer Electronic Show for ten years, and is now about to resurface again with an insurgence of new technologies to get their buzz going again. The last show they were at was in 1997, and now they have to prove again that they are heavy hitters in the industry. For the upcoming show, IBM is said to be planning to demonstrate how its technology, components, and top level business partnerships with the likes up Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been used in many leading edge electronics like gaming systems and mobile devices. IBM has been doing a lot of interesting things lately to get in people's minds that they aren't old school anymore, and that they can hang with the cool kids once again. This includes a $10 million investment in technologies that can help build Second Life style virtual worlds.

The LA Times' Sallie Hofmeister has published her business predictions for the new year, and there's a lot of interesting speculation among them, but most interesting is this tidbit: "Sources say Google has been in negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., among other retailers, to sell a Google PC." Of course this isn't the first talk of a Google-branded computer, and if anyone could pull it off it would be Google. Hofmeister speculates that Larry Page will use his keynote at CES this Friday to announce the Google PC. Me, I'm not holding my breath, but I will definitely be watching.

[Via Digg]