For those who have been waiting patiently, eWeek says that the Rollup 2 update for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 will be released to the general public on Friday. (For details on what’s in it, see this earlier post.)
The eWeek story suggests that Microsoft might be planning to roll out some new online services on Friday:
Microsoft Has New Mission for Media Center
Microsoft Corp. is about to give Media Center PCs a new point of view.
The Redmond, Wash., software giant is expected to unveil on Friday an update for its Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system that will boost the computers’ abilities to tap online entertainment such as movies, access e-mail and even let users go shopping via the special user interface, designed to allow easy access to multimedia.
The new features, which will come as part of a rollup or collection of updates dubbed Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition, will expand the capabilities of Media Center PCs and shift their focus from showing photos and videos to on-demand online entertainment and content services, provided by big-name outlets such as MTV.
My Media Center PC is running the Rollup 2 update (downloaded from the OEM System Builder site). I don’t see anything new in the Online Spotlight segment. So I wonder if the eWeek story is correct. Could it be that Microsoft is planning to roll out some significant new Online Spotlight services at the same time? Do these new online features really require this update? Inquiring minds want to know.
A few weeks ago, after the first tepid reviews of this update appeared, Microsoft’s Matt Goyer previously hinted that new features were in the pipeline:
I’ve also read about a lot of your disappointment with the release but I don’t think that’s something I can discuss until after launch. Though I will say, that I have a new feature in there that I’m really excited about!
Tune in on Friday…
2 comments ↓
[...] The new features, which will come as part of a rollup or collection of updates dubbed Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition, will expand the capabilities of Media Center PCs and shift their focus from showing photos and videos to on-demand online entertainment and content services, provided by big-name outlets such as MTV. The only problem is that it’s not clear what these new capabilities are based on the article which has a fairly mundane list of updates. (Ed Bott notices the same thing and speculates on possible surprises.) Even the least expensive desktop Media Center models, which sell for as little as $599 and come without TV tuners or high-end graphics, are expected to be able to tap the new features. [...]
Online Spotlight is a website hosted by Microsoft, new partners would be added when Microsoft updates the page.
Added partners should also be able to be accessed in other versions, unless they do a URL change.
Chris
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