Windows Me Officially Launched
Sept. 14 -- Microsoft formally launched the latest version of its Windowsoperating system for home users today, and by stuffing the softwarewith new music, movie and Internet features, it is echoing astrategy that has already landed it in legal hot water.
Windows Me, short for Windows Millennium Edition, is thesuccessor to last year’s Windows 98 Second Edition, but it is nota huge leap over its predecessor, analysts say.
Instead, it plugs a gap in the Windows product line untilnext year, when Microsoft is set to unify the business andconsumer versions of its core product in a long-awaited move.
“I really just see it as a place holder, it’s really not allthat important,” Dwight Davis, an analyst with Summit Strategies,said of Windows Me.
Last OS to Be DOS-Based
Windows Me will be Microsoft’s last operating system based onits 20-year-old DOS programming technology.
Windows 2000, the powerful corporate operating systemlaunched in February, is based on Microsoft’s NT technology,which is much more stable and secure than DOS.
Originally, the company was to have scrapped DOS by now, butit faced mounting technical challenges in adapting NT to includeconsumer-friendly features, such as video games.
“It comes out at sort of this strange time in the company’sproduct evolution, the last gasp of the DOS line and Windows 98,”Davis said.
Multimedia Takes Center Stage
Windows Me isn’t considered a must-have upgrade, but it addsnew programmes, such as a music player that can record, store andplay songs.
Also included are tools for editing home movies, built-insupport for home networking, and a “system restore” feature thatreturns the PC to an earlier state if it crashes.
“It’s designed solely with the home user in mind,” JohnFrederiksen, general manager of Microsoft PC Experience Groupthat oversees PC versions of Windows, said in an interview.
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