NOVEMBER 2005 MA XIMUMPC 41
2000
September 2000: Microsoft
releases Windows MEFebruary 2000: Microsoft
releases Windows 2000WINDOWS XP TABLET EDITION
Microsoft has tried to bring
pen-based computing to the
masses since the early 1990s,
when a Windows 3.1-based
pen-based OS was released.
XP Tablet is a much more pol-
ished, ready-for-prime-time
concept. Like MCE, Tablet is
a full-fl edged implementation
of XP with extra bells and
whistles, such as speech and
handwriting recognition, as
well as the Journal, an electric
notepad that’s perfect for taking notes.WINDOWS XP 64-BIT EDITION
Users who bought into Intel’s and AMD’s 64-bit
architectures had to wait years for Microsoft to offer
desktop OS support, but it fi nally arrived in 2005
in the form of XP 64-Bit Edition, the 64-bit offshoot
of XP Professional. What that means remains to be
seen, as 64-bit Windows has yet to provide a killer
app. Although an offi cial product, as of this writing
64-bit XP still has a specialized audience. A number
of customary Windows features, including System
Restore, are not present in the new OS. But to be
on the cutting edge with the hottest iron, XP 64 is
where it’s at.WINDOWS VISTA
Code-named Longhorn, Vista should be at least as much a
leap in look and feel for XP users as Win95 was to the Win3.1
crowd. The new Aero interface emphasizes 3D interactivity
and smooth, vector-based interface design, and the core of
the operating system is built to tie in heavily with Microsoft’s
.NET framework, including a wave of new programming APIs
(which are expected to be ported back to XP users as well.)
If you think Longhorn/Vista is taking a long time to reach the
market, consider that it took Microsoft well over a decade to
make NT its primary desktop operating system. Surely, an
extra year or two for Vista won’t hurt anybody....November 2002: Microsoft
releases Windows XP Tablet PC EditionSeptember-October 2001:
Microsoft releases Windows XPAugust 2004: Microsoft releases
Windows XP Service Pack 2October 2002: Microsoft
releases Windows XP Media
Center Edition
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005WINDOWS XP MEDIA
CENTER EDITION
The industry has been talking about
“living room convergence PCs” for
a decade, and Windows XP MCE
represents Microsoft’s incursion into
that space. The XP desktop is still
present, but MCE also includes a
slick, TiVo-esque front-end for all
the music and movies you can cram
into a media machine—all driven
by remote control. While the fi rst
versions had serious warts—fast-forwarding through a TV program could crash the
shell—later revisions fi xed many of the fl aws. Still, MCE isn’t as compelling as other
products that aren’t crippled by digital rights-management technology.