Bill Gates talked about Microsoft's pending deal with AT&T to make the Xbox the IPTV front end and offered some personal views of the Apple TV, the costs of Vista, and the Zune strategy in an interview Sunday at Silicon Valley.com.

The Xbox was discussed as a potential consumer front end in a deal with AT&T and their IPTV product. The Xbox doesn't need to be modified to fit into this role according to the former CEO. When asked about the overall Xbox strategy, Mr. Gates offered his assessment: "It's working perfectly. We wanted to be the guy with the small box that costs less ... We wanted to not be a year late, not be a big box, not be a more expensive box. How are we doing on that?"

Regarding his view on Apple TV, he told a story about Steve Jobs: "I remember at a conference he was talking about how he didn't like going into markets where he had to go through somebody else's orifice." According to Mr. Gates, his recollection of the comment was Mr. Jobs' view of the broadband companies, cable companies and phone companies. "We love those guys," Mr. Gates said.

When a question came up about the efficiency Microsoft displayed designing Vista, Mr. Gates offered this one-liner: "Best $6B I ever spent."

Finally, when asked about the Zune, Mr. Gates described an approach taken with their previous products. "We knew what we wanted. Just like the first-generation Xbox, we wanted to get on the learning curve. We wanted to get credibility."