Woz: Maybe Microsoft is a different company now

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is excited about Microsoft.

Yes, even more excited than when he happened to wonderwhether Microsoft had re-incarnated Steve Jobs in order to create its new Windows Phones.

I am grateful to Cult of Mac for spotting footage of the Entel Summit in Chile in which Woz waxed lyrical about recent developments in Redmond.

"I do see a lot of stuff coming out from Microsoft in the consumer arena. A lot of people like to say that Microsoft's had no successes in the last so many years, but the Xbox is a success, and certainly Kinect."

He's certainly right. And he's certainly enthusiastic about Microsoft's phone output.

"They have such a striking visual appearance, which is a lot of what Steve Jobs was always looking for -- the art and technology, the convergence of art and technology," he said.

He's also very keen to get his hands on Microsoft's new PC/tablet thingy, the Surface.

"I want to own one. I want to use one," he said.

Indeed, Woz seemed so excited about Microsoft's progress that he wondered what on earth was going on there.

He said: "I'm glad that Microsoft (is) starting to show that maybe they're a different company than before. I don't remember this sort of thing happening in a long, long time from Microsoft."

Woz also spoke about Kim DotCom and Google Glasses, which he didn't seem sure would be as fun as something like an iPod Nano-type machine on his wrist -- something that he could just talk to and would understand him, no matter how bad or colloquial his grammar.

On his left wrist, though, as his shirtsleeve pulled back, sat a huge watch that looked as if you could talk to it and it would cook you dinner.

Given Microsoft's apparent current resurgence and Woz's infectious enthusiasm, would it be merely mischievous to suggest Redmond offer him a job?