Chromeffects gets the axe...for now

When Chromeffects--an odd combination of DirectX and HTML/Web technologythat requires some pretty serious hardware--was demoed at the Windows 98launch in June, most people just shook their heads and wondered who Microsoft was targeting the technology at. Chromeffects, which requires aminimum of a Pentium II 350 with AGP graphics, was just too resource heavyfor most users. Well, Microsoft apparently agrees that the product is justtoo much and it's been put on hold indefinitely. All that's known now isthat Chromeffects, which was initially due in the first Windows 98 servicepack, is going back to the drawing board for some work.

"We're stepping back now and re-architecturing things," said Windowsproduct manager Rob Bennett. "Chromeffects will ship as an integrated feature in some future version of Windows."

In what is presumably a related development, Eric Engstrom, the formergeneral manager for Microsoft's multimedia technologies, has been moved tothe MSN team, where he will work on Web product development