Microsoft Offers First Look At Windows XP

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

February 13, 2001 (3:28 PM EST)

SEATTLE—Bill Gates Tuesday introduced the computing world to the next version of the Windows operating system, dubbed Windows XP.

The much-simplified operating system targets both consumer and business users, and is designed to help users link to peripherals, run DVD movies, organize photos, and perform other tasks.

Calling it the single most important release since Windows 95, Gates showed off the all-new user interface, the system's integration of digital media, and briefly touched on its .Net service abilities.

"Windows XP is at the center of the digital media revolution," Gates said Tuesday at the Experience Music Project, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's ultra-modern tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

"We're making it easier to work with cameras, PDAs, and digital music. The PC is becoming the key device that is connecting all kinds of devices. Windows is extending the richness of the PC experience."

Windows XP Beta 2 was code-named Whistler until just last week when Microsoft branded forthcoming Windows and Office products with the XP instead of the current year-of-release tag. Gates said Windows XP Beta 2 will ship in the first quarter, but the system reportedly has a Feb. 28 ship date; Windows XP won't actually be available until the second half of this year.

Microsoft is hoping the advances it offers can invigorate the slumping PC industry.

"It is a major Windows release," Gates said. "Certainly, the most important since Windows 95. It is a breakthrough introduction."

Gates set the price tag on Windows XP's development at around $1 billion.

Gates was joined on stage by Jim Allchin, a key Windows NT architect who last year took an extended leave of absence. Some Microsoft insiders suspected he would join the ranks of high-profile executives to exit the company. Allchin's active participation in the preview quelled those rumors. CEO Steve Ballmer did not participate in the preview.

Allchin, group vice president of Windows, could hardly contain his enthusiasm about the product, describing the technical upgrades as being like "going from black and white to color."

"There's incredible buzz about this product," he said. "It is not just an upgrade. It's almost a lifestyle upgrade."

Allchin further demonstrated the OS's camera and scanner wizard, saying that using digital pictures was once complicated, "but now it is simple." He showed the newest version of Windows Media Player running a video on a Microsoft Pocket PC.

"It is the system I always wanted to build," Allchin said. "It is the system my mom deserves. It is the system for all business users."

Showing support from major industry partners, Microsoft (stock: MSFT) presented videotaped endorsements for XP from the chief executives of Intel (stock: INTC), Compaq Computer Corp. (stock: CPQ), Hewlett-Packard (stock: HWP), Circuit City, Best Buy (stock: BBY), and eBay (stock: EBAY).

Intel's Craig Barrett called the XP one of the three most exciting things to happen to the industry this year. He also pointed to the Pentium 4 and "concept of extending the PC to all sorts of peripherals."

Hewlett-Packard and Compaq pledged to load the OS on their systems "as soon as it is available."

Windows XP will be fueled by some $200 million in marketing dollars. Microsoft's public relations efforts will drive the notion that Windows XP represents the same level of improvement that Windows 95 represented over Windows 3.1. Many are skeptical.

"It reminds me of what [Apple CEO Steve] Jobs did with OS 10," said Gartner analyst Chris LeTocq, after the preview.

Windows XP Personal and Professional desktop clients are planned to ship in the second half of the year. But Microsoft faces the challenge of encouraging migration to Windows XP without cannibalizing the sales of Windows 2000 and Office 2000.

"The big things here are for consumers," LeTocq said. "That could be a big problem for businesses. A business running this OS will have to go in and select out a lot of this stuff. I was expecting to see a bit more innovation."

It's been over five years since an excited Gates announced that the Internet would force the company to change its business model and become more Internet-centered, an ideal it is still reaching for with its .Net program. In fact, Windows XP and Office XP will be vital parts of the .Net software-as-services strategy.

Gates offered a short glimpse of .Net service integration with the software.

"We started XP with a vision of taking the computing experience and making it better," Gates said. "The philosophy behind .NET is making all these devices" work together and utilize services."

Hyperbole and superlatives aside, Windows XP does have many new features that some users may deem revolutionary. The upgrade features redesigned graphical user interface with user-selectable Visual Styles to make it more visually appealing. Reiterating an often-spoken mantra, Gates insisted the changes will make the PC "simpler and easier" to use. Windows XP will also sport the ability to save files to a Microsoft Internet storage site.

However, Microsoft may have its work cut out for it in generating enthusiasm on the end-user front.

"There's been buzz [about Windows XP] within our group," said Carl Von Papp, who runs the Komputer Enthusiasts of Greater Seattle laptop special interest group. But, "within the last several months, it hasn't come up once. I guess we're getting a little blas about all the new operating systems coming out."