The good old days of home electronics weren't so good for the Analog family. Those were the days when each room of their home and each of their electronic devices was an independent island in a vast electronic archipelago. Those were the days when there were few choices if they tried to bridge these islands or take their music, videos and pictures on the go. When they could only watch DVDs or listen to their music collection in one room of the house. When downloading music was equally complicated - or illegal. Those were the days when Mom, Pop, Bro and Sis were truly unconnected.

The Analog family, while hypothetical, is like many these days. For more than a decade, they've been told that a home and personal electronics revolution was coming. But each time they visited their nearest electronics store, there were few choices. One "solution" beamed TV around the house, but not music. Another let them download music on a portable device, but not videos. Unless someone in the family was tech-savvy or they were willing to drain the kids' college fund to buy a high-priced stack of audio/video equipment, the revolution never seemed to arrive at their home. They never got to experience much more than before.

Microsoft recognized this unfulfilled promise, and has worked with industry partners to create digital entertainment experiences that consumers can enjoy anywhere - in the home, around the home or on the go. With the debut today of the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and a host of related products and services, Microsoft and its partners aim to take digital entertainment to a new level of convenience, ease of use and affordability.

The company began working on "Symphony," the product that became Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Don't be fooled by reports that this release is a minor upgrade, it's not. First, there's been a not-so-subtle change in the way in which Microsoft perceives XP MCE. In the past, XP MCE was sort of a high-end niche product, since it was available only with special types of PCs which came with bundled TV tuner cards. Now, that vision has changed dramatically. "When we talked about Media Center in the past, we tended to refer to it as the version of Windows that came with a remote [control]," Belfiore said. "But it's also worth mentioning that in this version in particular Media Center represents the version of Windows that is the highest end, most complete, and best version of Windows, even when you're sitting at your desk using your mouse and keyboard. It's the best PC experience you can get as a consumer."

Second, for the first time since XP shipped in 2001, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to provide XP MCE 2005 with a brand new visual style (discussed below), highlighting its prominence and importance in the XP line-up.

And finally--and perhaps most importantly--Microsoft has imbued XP MCE 2005 with a rousing set of upgrades that takes a previously excellent but somewhat flawed product to a whole new level. The visuals in XP MCE 2005 are stunning. So are the new features, which are, yes, refinements, but also major usability wins that will have customers grinning to themselves as they discover the product's improved functionality. You'll see what I mean by that in a bit.

Read More at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2004/oct04/10-12ExperienceMore.asp