Microsft Unveils New Media Center 2005 To Mixed Reviews

As part of their bid to extend it’s reach from your desktop into your livingroom and beyond, Microsoft yesterday unveiled Windows XP Media Center 2005.

As Hollywood Reporter writes: “In the future described by Microsoft on Tuesday, a single remote control will allow consumers to have their choice of movies, music, photos, television and other media wherever and whenever they want it.”

“Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect, unveiled the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating platform at the heart of this vision along with related products and services from dozens of other companies during an event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with assistance from Queen Latifah. Consumers will now have one interface that will direct them whether they’re programming the software’s DVR functions or choosing a movie to download”, Gates told reporters.

The tech editors at CNet, however, gave the product only a “Good” rating and wrote that “Media Center Edition 2005 is the best desktop DVR app out there, but it’s not yet ready to play hub for your digital home.”