Media Center and Tablet PC

January 27, 2004

Windows sequel gets set to entertain | CNET News.com

Media Center and Tablet PC, the other customized version of Windows XP, are taking on added importance for Microsoft, which is still years away from shipping the next major release of Windows, code-named Longhorn. The company has said it plans this year to bring out a new version of its Tablet PC software, code-named Lonestar.

By contrast, the mainstay editions of Windows XP are only due for a service pack this year, adding security enhancements and other modest changes.

Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said that he expects Media Center to play an increasingly central role in Microsoft's consumer PC efforts. "In the next 18 months some variant of the Windows Media Center OS is going to become the consumer OS," Gartenberg said.

Media Center includes all the features of Windows XP, but adds a second interface that can be navigated by remote control, for doing tasks like playing music, viewing digital pictures and pausing or recording TV shows.

Windows entry by mjh at 02:11 PM | email this

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