Microsoft Xbox 360: more of a PC hybrid than Xbox 1

The console, code-named Xenon, is due to be previewed in an MTV half-hour special later this month.

Mr Gates, Microsoft's chairman and co-founder, was vague on specific features of Xenon but said the company's consoles would be evolving to include improved communications tools for making multiplayer online gaming more convivial.

He told the annual meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers that Xenon's software menu would be similar to that of the company's Media Centre edition of Windows, which is designed for computers meant to be located in the living room.

"If you're used to that menu, when you use this Xenon you'll see a menu a lot like that that lets you get photos, TV, music and all those different things."

Video-game players want to be able to chat with their buddies, know when others are present online, and will want to access their music and photos on their consoles in an interface already familiar to them, Mr Gates said.

At a convention of hardware engineers last week, Mr Gates said the company's investments in Windows Media Centre software had paid off, with more than 1million copies sold since the launch of the operating system's second version in October and a total of 2million since the initial system shipped three years ago.

The Microsoft chairman also drew guffaws when he took a dig at Apple in response to questions about the rave reviews the competitor's newest operating system, Mac OSX "Tiger," received upon release last week.

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