Friday, September 15, 2000
Working from home, far from help desks or T1 lines, it's easy to
grow frustrated looking for giant Web waves to surf, when your ocean is just a
trickle of data that drips through a skinny telephone line.
So yesterday Microsoft offered its most "warm and fuzzy" product
yet --Windows Me, the best oxymoron of the new century. No, Microsoft doesn't
really have your best interests in mind -- "Me" is an acronym for Millennium
Edition, the release of the ubiquitous operating system that's an "incremental
upgrade" to Windows 98 (http://www.microsoft.com).
The company says Windows Me was designed to improve the "home
computing experience" by offering advances in PC health (reliability), digital
media, home networking, and the online experience. In Microsoft's own words,
"With home networking features, faster Web browsing, and rich digital media
content, it's the only operating system designed just for you and your home PC."
Microsoft launched Windows Me yesterday, September 13 and
announced it would take the new OS on a tour of malls around the country this
fall, offering demos to back-to-school shoppers. Through November, the Microsoft
juggernaut…oops, sorry, tractor-trailer…will visit San Francisco, Chicago, New
York, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Tampa, Kansas City, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and
others.