Triplesourced

When we originally found out that Bill Gates was going to be in town ZDNet UK was obviously keen to be there but for some reason the Microsoft PR people were keen that we weren't. It’s a consumer launch we were told so a business focused publication such as ZDNet doesn't need to be there.

After some cajoling however we eventually found out that there was a small business section to today's event…which was kind of confusing – is it business or is it consumer?

Anyway, seems that Microsoft is keen to build some bridges with the SME community and has hired ex-Dragons Den, the BBC TV series, panellist Doug Richard, also a VC of some repute, to host a small business session before lunch.

We will keep you posted on what happens but its very interesting in the light of a story yesterday that Microsoft is really cracking down on Windows licensing amongst smaller companies – forcing them to fill out a survey on their usage on pain of a visit from the BSA…and you know what that means. We will keep you posted on what happens.

Conscious of the hip following that Apple has attracted around the iPod, Microsoft tried to add its own sheen of rock chic to the launch of its Vista OS in London. Rock band The Feeling were on hand to tell the audience how important online music is to them and to play one of their songs acoustically on stage. The band will also be playing a full set in the pavilion area outside of the British Library later on we are told. This has to be first time that the British Library has hosted a gig surely?

To add some gravitas and historical perspective to the launch of Vista, Gates was joined on stage by the chief executive of the British Library Lynne Brindley, who was on hand to discuss how the library is using Vista to digitise its archives. Specifically, Brindley announced that Gates has personally made available a rare notebook of Leonardo DaVinci's from his private collection. The notebook will join others held by the British Library – in an online archive – the first time that the notebooks have been in the same place for around 500 years, according to Brindley.

The UK launch of Vista is underway at the British Library and in an echo of the late running of Vista, Bill Gates was 15 minutes late on stage despite the exact timetabling of his appearance to the nearest minute in the schedule. The Microsoft boss was meant to appear on stage at 10.01 until 10.05 but did not appear until about 10.20.

The Microsoft boss made no reference to his own late arrival or that of his new operating system but chose instead to announce what a "very special occasion" the launch was and emphasise the impact Vista will have on people's "digital lifestyle and digital workstyle".

Gates, dressed smartly in a grey suit with none of his trademark cardigans in sight, added that Vista would also make it much easier for users to find information and how much focus the company has placed on safety in the new OS. "Safety has been a huge element of what we have done here," he said.

Bill Gates is set to host a breakfast meeting on Saturday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We wonder what will be on the menu – spam fritters anyone? Three years on from predictions that the industry could stamp out spam in two years – and well it's showing no signs of going away.

Still it was an interesting, if arrogant, gesture – the kind of thing that tech bosses should be doing. One of the solution's Gates proposed at the time was the electronic stamp or "payment at risk" model for email. Senders of email would have to pay if the sender deemed it to be spam – "…spam would soon be a thing of the past" said Bill.

Google is also showing it's definitely one of the big boys with a strong presence at Davos. Chairman Schmidt will be joined by Sergey and Larry and even newly acquired YouTube will be represented by Chad Hurley. That is some turnaround for Chad from wannabe video entrepreneur to hanging out at Davos in the space of a matter of months.