Microsoft opens Windows to the home
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Although Apple Computer's combination of iTunes andiPod has proven pretty popular, Microsoft is bettingthat people want to do more with their music and thatthey want to be able to move video and pictures aroundas well.
Chairman Bill Gates made that case at a tony pressevent at the Shrine Auditorium here. With the help ofsinger Queen Latifah, Gates showed off a host ofgadgets that use one or another Microsoft technologyto access movies, music and video.
"What we've got here is an ecosystem," Gates said."It's got partners, its got platforms, and it's gotlots of choice. It's not just one device but all thedifferent devices you want now and into the future."
With several updates for its home entertainment software, Microsoft is homing in on digital media. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005: A new version of the entertainment operating system supports multiple tuners, online scheduling of recordings, a new movie-finding feature, CD and DVD burning from within a remote-control interface, and limited support for digital and high-definition TV. Media Center Extenders: These set-top boxes enable people to watch TV and videos that are stored on a Media Center PC in a separate room. MSN Music: Microsoft's online store moves from testing to formal launch, gaining exclusive rights to AC/DC's music collection. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile: The first two devices to support the mobile version are an Audiovox Smartphone and a new Pocket PC from Dell. Source: MicrosoftHomeward bound
Among the PCs that will run the new operating system is Hewlett-Packard's stylish Digital Entertainment Center, which the company introduced last month in Miami. There are also a number of other living-room boxes, desktop PCs and notebook computers that will run the software, including systems from Toshiba, Dell, Gateway and Sony, among others.
A host of companion products are also set to make their debut. There are set-top boxes, handheld devices and media receivers--all of which can access the same movies, music and photos stored on a single Windows XP-based computer.
The stakes are high for Microsoft. The digital revolution is happening, withor without the company, and Microsoft is certainly hoping for the former.Digital cameras are relegating film cameras to dusty shelves and TiVos arereplacing VCRs. And where CDs, albums and casettes were once the home tomusic collections, Americans now have 10 billion music tracks on theircomputer hard drives.
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| Commentary No rush to the Media Center  Forrester Research predicts that version one of Windows Media Center Extenders will fail to excite most consumers this holiday season. | | ||
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The prior incarnations of Media Center sold about 1million copies, Gates said, adding that this versionshould prop that up by a factor of four or five.
"We are moving media center into the mainstream,"Gates said.
Will Poole, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows Client business, said now is the time for that move."We look at all of those things and we say the market is hot and consumer interest is hot," Poole said prior to Tuesday's event.
At the same time, Microsoft and the PC industry need something to drive computer sales until the arrival of Longhorn, the next major version of Windows in 2006.
Making music
On the music side, Microsoft announced the formal launch of its MSN Musicstore as well as the fact that the store will start selling music by heavy metal group AC/DC--a longtime holdout in the digital music market. The company is toutingseveral new media players that support subscription-based music as well asthe first two devices that come with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile--theAudiovox SMT5600 Smartphone and Dell's Axim X50 Pocket PC.
TV viewing is central to Media Center 2005.
While Apple's iPod and iTunes Music Store have so far proved more popular,Poole thinks that Microsoft will eventually win the day. But, he said, it will take sometime before Microsoft-based players and stores are viewed in the same lightas Apple.
"All of that flexibility plus the choice of devices will start to begin tokick in this holiday season in terms of volume and will just escalate overthe course of next year," Poole said.
Part of Microsoft's challenge, Poole acknowledges, is that its options have lacked the simplicity others have offered."Frankly, the Microsoft ecosystem has had more complexity in the past thanconsumers need to see going forward."
Although TV recording continues to be a major focus of Media Center,Microsoft decided to allow computer makers, for the first time, to offerdevices with no tuner at all.
Poole said the move will allow computer makers to offer machines that covernearly the full range of prices, with low-end machines starting in the $600range and the fanciest of machines costing more than $2,000.
Breakout performance?
As a result, Microsoft is counting on Media Center moving out of its nicheshare of the consumer PC market.
"We certainly will move from single-digit to double-digit percentages, thereis no question about that," Poole said. "How big of a double digit I'm notsure I know."
Media Centers on parade 
the wraps off new media centers.
"There still will be customers that want the simple and basic, and we want toaddress their needs as well," Poole said. "It's going to be more than 10percent this year, but when is it going to be more than 50 percent, Icouldn't tell you. We are headed in that direction."
In addition to adding features to Media Center, Microsoft has also had toinvest time on the basics, some of which were less than adequately handledin past Media Center releases. Chief among these is video quality, which inmany cases was inferior to DVD players that cost less than $50.
"Video quality is a huge priority for us," Poole said, noting that thecompany was constantly testing the new OS to make sure it was comparable orbetter to such consumer electronics rivals as TiVo. "I expect this willactually be a strong selling point for Media Center going forward now,rather than an area to question, as it has been in the past."
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