If Bill Gates stuck around after his keynote at RSA conference here today, he should have listened to Sun Microsystems' chief executive Scott McNealy, and learn a thing or two about delivering a keynote that keeps your audience from dozing off.

In addition to offering more content (items to listen to), McNealy also plasters his presentations with witty remarks:

• "If we turned on a Wintel space heater tomorrow, there would be no polar ice cap." Reference to the heath produced by servers powered by Intel processors, as well as an attempt to sell his new T1  processors."

• "It's a little Al Gorish to say we created open source software, but we did." (former presidential candidate once claimed that he invented the internet. He meant to say he helped create legislation that allowed the internet to grow)

• "A really effective virus can knock out every desktop. Small pocks will only kill 40 per cent of us." Plea for genetic diversity on the desktop: breaking Microsoft's desktop domination.

• "The cost of viruses is higher than the revenue generated by the company that sells the Petri dishes." McNealy didn't say which company he referred to, but its rather obvious which enterprise's software he would consider a breeding ground for a monster.

In Bill's defense, he succeeded to insert exactly one joke into his presentation, telling the audience that he was glad that he passed on another invitation that he had for today: going on a hunting trip with Bill Gates.

But McNealy outbid him even there, saying that the Microsoft chairman failed to mention McNealy's invitation to go on a hunting trip with him.

McNealy

McNealy with Java creator James Gossling.

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Tags: Microsoft, bill gates ,rsa 2006, RSA conference, security, sun microsystems, scott McNealy, James Gossling, cheney, dick cheney

14 Feb 2006