Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates was interviewed by USA Today in the course of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The outgoing Microsoft chief was asked several important questions about the state and future of technology, and among the most interesting responses he gave was that on the next-generation format war.

Asked if the recent move by Warner Bros. to shift allegiance to Sony's Blu-ray meant the demise of Toshiba's HD-DVD, Gates gave a bit of a sly response when you consider that Microsoft is an HD-DVD ally.

"There has been a lot of back and forth," Gates said. "The announcement before that was Paramount putting exclusive support behind HD DVD. HD DVD did well over the holidays."

However, Gates took a big turn and swung the topic to what he hopes will be Microsoft's answer to the format war.

The other trend we're seeing is that direct download over broadband — I think the greatest example of that is XBox Live — (is) becoming an important choice. Over time, that will be the dominant way that people get their movies.