Windows XP: 'From geek to sleek'
Windows on media
Oct 3, 2003
Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled its latest technology, an operating system specifically designed to bring movies, music and other entertainment from the computer onto the television and beyond. Content partners participating in the launch of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 include Movielink, Napster and CinemaNow.
Consumers tend to view their home computer as a useful tool, completely separate from their entertainment electronics, said Microsoft's Will Poole, senior vp Windows Client division. He said this advance will change that perception and bring the PC into the heart of the home, making it the hub of the entertainment center.
Other content will be made available by MSN TV, music video service Musicbrigade, Internet radio network Live365, gaming company WildTangent and others. Poole said Microsoft's improvements made it simple for all online content companies to build for the Media Center PC.
"It's moving from geek to sleek," Microsoft Corp. group vp platforms Jim Allchin said. "It's the right marriage of hardware, software and services for your living room."
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition and the first Media Center PCs initially became available in October 2002. This upgrade made it possible for entertainment service providers to completely integrate their products into the platform for a seamless user experience, Poole said.
This generation of computers has the capability to change television channels as well as to view downloaded movies or other videos on the family television set, using a remote control that comes with the PC. It also comes with Sonic Solutions' PrimeTime Deluxe, a program designed for recording home movies and television programs onto DVDs that can be played on most regular DVD players. Pause, rewind and fast-forward capabilities are added to FM radio broadcasts too, and CD ripping is now automated.
Poole noted that independent bands and moviemakers potentially now could have the same direct path to a potential audience as any major studio. "There are no roadblocks," he said. "Creativity now has an outlet to get easily in front of consumers."
Each of the content partners has designed a version of their Internet-based product specifically to be used with a remote control and viewed from across the room. Customers also will get a new online guide called Online Spotlight that brings all entertainment offerings together in one place, which can be displayed and navigated on a TV screen using the remote.
Movielink CEO Jim Ramo said the Media Center PC is a clear indicator of how his company is going to grow.
"This is the coming together of the television and the PC, which will let the Internet become an equal of cable, satellite and broadcast," he said.
CinemaNow CEO Curt Marvis was similarly pleased with the implications for Internet video-on-demand.
"Since we started four years ago, we've been told that nobody watches movies on computers," Marvis said. "The point we frequently made was that computerized devices would make it into the living room, and this is a perfect example of a computerized device that's been designed to do just that. What we're seeing is the true beginning of convergence."
Napster president and CEO Mike Bebel declined to give many details of the as-yet-unveiled new legal music service, but said the work to make this development possible has been going on for months.
"Converting your navigation from a mouse and keyboard to a remote is a pretty significant change," he said. "Everything has to be considered, right down to the number of pixels in a graphic."
Napster will be designed for easy home-networking so that music can be enjoyed anywhere and anyhow the consumer wishes, and Media Center PC makes it easier to achieve that goal, Bebel said.
These partnerships create a "virtuous cycle," according to Poole, when the content boosted the purchase of Microsoft products to experience it and when Microsoft made it simple for consumers to enjoy the content as they wished.
Dell and Sony announced their plans to release computers with the new technology, joining existing Media Center PC manufactures such as Gateway, HP and Toshiba. Poole said the software came at a slight premium over other operating systems but that Media Center PC prices would still start at less than $1,000.
Consumers tend to view their home computer as a useful tool, completely separate from their entertainment electronics, said Microsoft's Will Poole, senior vp Windows Client division. He said this advance will change that perception and bring the PC into the heart of the home, making it the hub of the entertainment center.
Other content will be made available by MSN TV, music video service Musicbrigade, Internet radio network Live365, gaming company WildTangent and others. Poole said Microsoft's improvements made it simple for all online content companies to build for the Media Center PC.
"It's moving from geek to sleek," Microsoft Corp. group vp platforms Jim Allchin said. "It's the right marriage of hardware, software and services for your living room."
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition and the first Media Center PCs initially became available in October 2002. This upgrade made it possible for entertainment service providers to completely integrate their products into the platform for a seamless user experience, Poole said.
This generation of computers has the capability to change television channels as well as to view downloaded movies or other videos on the family television set, using a remote control that comes with the PC. It also comes with Sonic Solutions' PrimeTime Deluxe, a program designed for recording home movies and television programs onto DVDs that can be played on most regular DVD players. Pause, rewind and fast-forward capabilities are added to FM radio broadcasts too, and CD ripping is now automated.
Poole noted that independent bands and moviemakers potentially now could have the same direct path to a potential audience as any major studio. "There are no roadblocks," he said. "Creativity now has an outlet to get easily in front of consumers."
Each of the content partners has designed a version of their Internet-based product specifically to be used with a remote control and viewed from across the room. Customers also will get a new online guide called Online Spotlight that brings all entertainment offerings together in one place, which can be displayed and navigated on a TV screen using the remote.
Movielink CEO Jim Ramo said the Media Center PC is a clear indicator of how his company is going to grow.
"This is the coming together of the television and the PC, which will let the Internet become an equal of cable, satellite and broadcast," he said.
CinemaNow CEO Curt Marvis was similarly pleased with the implications for Internet video-on-demand.
"Since we started four years ago, we've been told that nobody watches movies on computers," Marvis said. "The point we frequently made was that computerized devices would make it into the living room, and this is a perfect example of a computerized device that's been designed to do just that. What we're seeing is the true beginning of convergence."
Napster president and CEO Mike Bebel declined to give many details of the as-yet-unveiled new legal music service, but said the work to make this development possible has been going on for months.
"Converting your navigation from a mouse and keyboard to a remote is a pretty significant change," he said. "Everything has to be considered, right down to the number of pixels in a graphic."
Napster will be designed for easy home-networking so that music can be enjoyed anywhere and anyhow the consumer wishes, and Media Center PC makes it easier to achieve that goal, Bebel said.
These partnerships create a "virtuous cycle," according to Poole, when the content boosted the purchase of Microsoft products to experience it and when Microsoft made it simple for consumers to enjoy the content as they wished.
Dell and Sony announced their plans to release computers with the new technology, joining existing Media Center PC manufactures such as Gateway, HP and Toshiba. Poole said the software came at a slight premium over other operating systems but that Media Center PC prices would still start at less than $1,000.
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