Taking computers beyond work -- to fun
SeattlePI | at | by Mike
The personal computer's slow evolution from work tool to consumer plaything took a big step yesterday, with the world's biggest software company and several major computer makers simultaneously announcing new entertainment-centric machines and software.
Microsoft led the new product parade, unveiling an updated software platform built specifically to transform PCs into home entertainment centers.
Computers running the new Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 platform can do everything typical Windows-based machines do today -- word processing, Internet access and spreadsheets, for instance. But it also comes with built-in software for watching and recording television shows, downloading and playing movies and listening to music -- whether from CDs, the Internet or a radio station on the other side of the country.