During today's kickoff keynote for the four-day conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (pictured) himself ran through a demonstration of key Windows 8 features on machines as diverse as an 84-inch touchscreen, the Microsoft Surface tablet/laptop (where the tablet meets the PC, Ballmer says) and Windows Phone 8 .

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"This is our real step into the mobile world," Ballmer told the gathering in a tent on the Microsoft campus.

The company announced that ESPN, SAP and all plan or have ready Windows 8 applications, demonstrating to developers the elite realm in which they might play, too.