Microsoft Corp. vice president Jim Allchin said the new Windows XP desktop operating system was "the experience that I've always wanted to build." The company has been emphasizing its compatibility with digital cameras and music players and the ease with which personal computer users will be able to move files to and from the Internet.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told reporters that Windows XP, which is to be released in the second half of this year, would "meet the demand that the Windows setup be the center" of any personal computing system.
The new operating system allows multiple users to save files on one computer, but keep those files private from others using the same computer. It also allows an authorized person on one computer to access another computer over the Internet, to fix problems. Also with Windows XP, people can access their own computer from another computer through a new remote access function.
In an interview with Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto, Gates said that consumers interested in going out to buy a new PC before Windows XP is released shouldn't hesitate, as Microsoft is "making the upgrade from windows 2000 to this product very, very simple."
Gates said XP cost more than $1 billion to develop, above the cost of the Windows 2000 system it is based on, but declined to say how much it would sell for. It is the first consumer-oriented system to use the more reliable Windows 2000 software code, which was designed for heavier-duty corporate and Internet users.
Gates called Windows XP "the most important release since
Windows 95," the much-hyped operating system that also was geared
toward the consumer market.
Rob Enderle, a research fellow with Giga Information Systems who
follows Microsoft, said the company's current marketing plan is
similar to the push it gave to Windows 95, a runaway hit for
Microsoft.
But Enderle said the market has changed greatly since 1995.
Sales might be hurt by a softening economy and the rising price of
electricity in the West, he said.
And while people in 1995 were hungry for faster operating
systems, people now are more focused on getting on networks and the
Internet, which are still relatively slow, Enderle said.
"It doesn't do you any good to have a Ferrari when the speed
limit is 20 miles an hour," he said.
Gates told Cavuto that the company has perservered well despite its recent legal battle against the
Department of Justice and the upcoming appeals court case.
"Microsoft has done a fantastic job on saying focused on what we do, which is making software," he said.
"The lawyers on the trial have the appeals trial coming up, but my focus is on the software strategies,
breakthroughs and computers. I have a full job without second-guessing any of the legal issues."
Henry Blodget, an analyst who follows Microsoft for Merrill
Lynch, said Windows XP's success will largely depend on the success
of the personal computer market in general.
"Relatively few consumers are going to rush out and buy a new
operating system to install on their existing PC, so the question
is, how much new demand is there?" Blodget said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
