Microsoft to hit the road with 'Meet Me' tour

Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will promote its upcoming release of Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) with a "Meet Me" tour that will visit 25 U.S. cities. Beginning September 14, the Meet Me tour will bring three 1024-square foot traveling displays representing a connected home to malls and shopping centers around the country in a bid to bring Windows Me to the masses. The Meet Me tour will give people a chance to get hands-on experience with the new operating system, discovering the latest advances in digital media, music, and home networking.

"Microsoft is pleased to introduce Windows Me on September 14 and deliver on our customers' demand for OS enhancements in the areas of digital media, home networking, improved online experience and PC health and support," says Microsoft general manager John Frederiksen, neatly ticking off the list of improvements in Windows Me. "With this Meet Me tour, Microsoft is taking an exciting and unprecedented step to introduce the power of Windows Me to people in malls all across America."

The Meet Me tour, which is sponsored by Microsoft partners Compaq Computer, Diamond Multimedia, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Panasonic, and RCA, will visit the following cities over two and a half months: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Mich., Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles, Miami, Fla., Minneapolis, Minn., New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Ore., San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C. Major areas of the Meet Me tour display will include a video area, a digital photography area, a music area, and a home networking area