Gates' annual Comdex address, his 20th, was designed to outline the promise of new software as well as the pitfalls of spam and security threats. Despite the challenges, Gates made his case that breakthroughs will make computing a more painless and rewarding experience.

Gates kicked off his talk showing a few slides from his first keynote 20 years ago. At the time Microsoft was focused on software that presented no surprises, software that was understandable and trustworthy.

Only about half that work is done, Gates said. "Those key attributes of software are still what we are focused on today," he said.

Gates also showed off his wristwatch using Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT), but comfirmed the public will have to wait until early next year to get one of the devices, which uses FM radio technology to display sport scores weather and other information.

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