Microsoft's living room hurrah -- Windows Vista and the Xbox 360

Is Microsoft ready to move into the living room? While recent efforts by the world's largest computer operating system maker have flopped in its wish to bridge the PC universe and the living room entertainment universe, recent demos I have seen make me think that the day is near when a nice, seamless, and non-crashing convergence of the PC room and the plasma TV-laden living room will be here.

With Microsoft being at CES this week (Consumer Electronics Show) and demonstrating once again how the Windows universe will be the entertainment hub for living rooms worldwide, content and hardware partnerships -- ones that actually work -- are surfacing as the operating system giant knows that it *must* move into the living room and become as central to the living room as the laptop or desktop.

Does Microsoft have more plans for the Xbox 360 than just a gaming console? Could the unit be used to provide an Internet gateway to one HDTV so that all the Internet content you use now on the PC -- web browsing, TV, Music, Email, etc. -- could be moved into an area where it's ultimately more accessible? If you're used to fighting over the remote control now, just wait.