Microsoft Launches XP Media Center Edition

Today, Microsoft launches its latest Windows XP version, XP Media Center Edition (MCE), at a special event in New York City's Bryant Park. Mike Toutonghi, vice president of the Windows eHome Division, will join actor and comedian Tom Arnold and other celebrity guests for the launch, which also coincides with the North American availability of the Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC, which runs XP MCE. Microsoft's latest OS combines the power of Windows XP with a remote control interface to digital media tasks and Digital Video Recording (DVR) functionality.

"Windows XP Media Center Edition greatly enhances consumers' ability to use their PC for both work and play," says Bill Gates, the 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."

The XP MCE launch event will highlight the entertainment scenarios which the product excels, including family room, media room, and dorm room situations. XP MCE and the HP Media Center PCs are designed for digital media enthusiasts and consumers--including teenagers, college students, young adults and families--who must live in space-constrained environments where a PC might be used as an entertainment center. The specs on the HP Media Center PC, however, are quite impressive: It features a high-end Pentium 4 processor, a recordable DVD drive, a 120 GB hard drive, front-accessible media drive slots, a TV tuner card, and 5.1 channel surround sound capabilities.

For more information about XP MCE, please visit the SuperSite for Windows:

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