Microsoft is expected to show off later this month a new version of its Windows XP Media Center entertainment PC software.
The company has scheduled announcements on Sept. 30 to take place simultaneously in four cities: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Redmond, Wash. At the September events, Microsoft will display the upgrade to the Media Center operating system, code-named Harmony, according to sources. The specialized version of the Windows XP operating system provides an extra interface to make it easy for people to view photos, listen to music and watch videos on a television hooked up to the PC.
Microsoft launched Windows XP Media Center last October, with Hewlett-Packard offering the first systems with the software. Gateway and games PC specialist Alienware--among others--followed suit with their own Media Center desktops, while Toshiba has begun selling laptops running the operating system. Executives at Microsoft have promised that the Redmond, Wash.-based company will expand Windows XP Media Center to more countries, in Europe and Asia, before the end of the year. So far, Media Center systems are available only in North America and Korea.