Windows XP Media Center Edition Ushers in New Era Of Entertainment on the PC

Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced the North American availability of Windows XP Media Center Edition via HP Media Center PCs, bringing consumers a fully integrated digital entertainment experience on a PC with the freedom and convenience of remote- control access. HP Media Center PCs, optimized to take full advantage of the digital media capabilities of Windows XP Media Center Edition, are now available at more than 1,400 retail outlets including Best Buy, Circuit City Stores Inc. and CompUSA in the United States, Future Shop Ltd. and Best Buy in Canada, and direct from HP at http://www.hpshopping.com/.

"Windows XP Media Center Edition greatly enhances consumers' ability to use their PC for both work and play," said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft. "This newest member of the Windows XP family enables consumers to enjoy the best of what digital entertainment has to offer and takes us into an exciting new era of personal computing."

At the Windows XP Media Center Edition launch in New York's Bryant Park, Mike Toutonghi, vice president of the Windows eHome Division, was joined by actor and comedian Tom Arnold of Fox Sports Net's hit "Best Damn Sports Show Period" in highlighting the value Windows XP Media Center Edition adds to any entertainment scenario. During his address, Toutonghi discussed the evolution of the home PC and the critical role industry partners such as HP have played in delivering a new genre of media center PCs to consumers. As part of the launch event, consumers in the New York area were given the opportunity to see HP Media Center PCs in three "lifestyle vignettes" depicting live consumer use in family room, media room and dorm room scenarios.

"The introduction of Windows XP Media Center Edition and the new HP Media Center PC is the upshot of our shared goal of making technology an integral part of people's lives," said Carly Fiorina, chairman and chief executive officer at HP. "Together, we've created a whole new way for people to experience their favorite pastimes, whether it's watching DVDs, listening to music, watching television, sharing and managing digital photos, or all of the other things PCs are normally used for, in one easy-to-use, integrated system.

"The Media Center PC is one of the first PCs to give consumers freedom to enjoy digital entertainment in new ways and new places around the home," said Paul Otellini, president and chief operating officer at Intel Corp. "The high performance of the Pentium 4 processor combined with Windows XP Media Center Edition provides consumers with an incredible digital entertainment experience."

"Personal computers are transforming from being not only a productivity tool, but also an entertainment source," said P.J. McNealy, research director at Gartner G2. "Twenty-three percent of U.S. households now have PCs in the living or family rooms, and usage of digital home videos, digital photos and digital music continues to rise. Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the words 'digital content,' and the PC is helping enable that learning curve."

Offering More in Home Entertainment and Computing
Powered by Intel Pentium 4 processors, HP Media Center PCs are optimized to take full advantage of the capabilities of Windows XP Media Center Edition. Intel's Pentium 4 processor offers the higher-performance processing needed to deliver significant performance gains for a best-in-class home entertainment experience. Building on the rich media platform launched one year ago with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows XP Media Center Edition turns a PC into a media center that integrates digital entertainment experiences with the freedom of remote-control access. Consumers can enjoy live television, personal video recording, music, photos, videos and DVDs from a new remote- controlled PC experience called Media Center. The sleek Media Center interface serves as a unified destination for entertainment on the Media Center PC and is designed to be viewed from anywhere in the room. Windows XP Media Center Edition is ideal for digital media enthusiasts and consumers, such as teenagers, college students, young adults and families, who must operate in small, space-constrained environments and who want to use their PC for entertainment and digital media.

Seeing Is Believing
Across the United States and Canada, select retail outlets will be encouraging consumers to test-drive the HP Media Center PCs and experience their digital entertainment capabilities and benefits. These efforts were kicked into high gear at launch by CompUSA's New York flagship store on Fifth Avenue and will continue around the country through the holidays during Demo Days, to be held at approximately 100 Best Buy stores nationwide Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 8-10, and at approximately 100 CompUSA stores Nov. 29-Dec. 1, Dec. 6-8 and Dec. 13-15. In addition, people can go to the Windows XP Media Center Edition Web site to see the Media Center PC experience at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/.

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Source: Microsoft Corp.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/