Media Center OS Open To VARs

Unlike the last generation of the Media Center operating system, available to about 30 OEMs, this version will be open to all system builders, said an executive from Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft who recently demonstrated it to solution providers at a D&H Distributing channel event.

The operating system is available only for bundling with new systems.

Jasbir Singh, an assistant product manager at ABS Computer Technologies, City of Industry, Calif., said he expects Microsoft's operating system to be big, if for no other reason than Gates' presence on stage with the system builders.

Even more important for system builders, said Singh: The operating system will help solution providers make a profitable and competitive offering once again in the desktop PC space.

"If you buy a Media Center PC, you'll want a top-of-the-line display or video card and so on," he said. "You won't put a cheap video card in a top-of-the-line system."

The operating system allows a Media Center PC to come with up to two TV tuner cards and one HDTV tuner card, with the ability to record programs and pause live TV. It also supports instant messaging and caller ID on the TV screen, as well as a radio tuner and the ability to run programs such as photo sharing and games over the remote control.

PCs with the operating system also can be connected to Media Center Extender devices, which allow all the functions to be remotely accessed in rooms other than where the PC is installed.

Media Center gives solution providers the chance to move away from $499 PCs, said Dan Schwab, vice president of marketing for D&H, Harrisburg, Pa. "You will see a whole new wave of PCs with Media Center," he said. "You will see a lot of guys go back to building systems themselves. And they won't just compete on price."