Microsoft frees up Freestyle

Would you like that TV show for here or to go?

Microsoft on Thursday will formally announce that Alienware and Toshiba plan to release notebooks running Windows XP Media Center Edition, originally code-named Freestyle. Using the software, which is a variation of Microsoft's flagship operating system, consumers will be able to watch TV shows on their portables and record the shows to their hard drives.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday evening gave a preview of the new notebooks during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Alienware plans to offer its first Windows Media Center notebook by the end of January, while Toshiba is expected to launch its first model later in the year.

Three other companies also plan to develop hardware around Windows XP Media Center Edition, which offers a second user interface for accessing the operating system's digital media features via remote control. As previously reported, ViewSonic will use the operating system to launch a consumer line of PCs. Tagar Systems and iBuyPower Computer also plan to produce consumer products running the software.

"All of the major manufacturers are experimenting with multimedia PCs and laptops," said Paul-Jon McNealy, a Gartner Dataquest analyst. "They're going to keep tweaking these models until they get them right. But it's going to continue to morph until wireless networking becomes ubiquitous."

Moving Microsoft's digital media operating system to notebooks is one of several attempts to bridge the home entertainment gap between portables and desktop computers. Already, notebook sales are gaining on desktop PCs. Research firm IDC estimates that in the United States notebooks account for 25 percent of the personal computer market, with the number of consumer models rising more rapidly than business models.
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