The beta release of Microsoft's first 64-bit operating system has generated industry interest not seen since the launch of Windows 95. According to Bill Gates, the company sees Whistler as the foundation of its plan to take wireless infrastructure into the home user market.
The Whistler preview focused on the start-up screen, which allows for easy switching between user profiles without rebooting, a scanner and camera "wizard" that simplifies storing and distributing digital photos and enhanced networking capabilities for running all those devices throughout the home.
"We created a machine you'll be leaving on 24 hours a day," Gates said. "We're taking the PC and the wireless infrastructure to make it available throughout the home."
One of the new devices that may connect to that network is a high-tech alarm clock that runs on calendar information and plays music files beamed from the PC. The prototype looked like an Apple Computer iMac shrunken to mobile phone size.
"That alarm clock has the full power of your schedule, your user preferences...in a device that's very inexpensive because it runs off the power of the PC," Gates said.
Gates' vision of the networked home also includes a big role for for handheld computers running on Microsoft's Pocket PC software. The most impressive Pocket PC demonstration involved a voice recognition software package that will allow a person to speak information into the handheld and control basic functions by voice. Other Pocket PC software in the works will allow handhelds to be used as a remote control for shuttling digital music from a PC to a networked stereo system.
Additionally, television was a focus for Gates, demonstrating enhancements to Microsoft's interactive TV software that allow viewers to record multiple programs simultaneously.
"Music will not be the same now that it's digital," he said. "The same with television--television will not be the same once it's fully in digital form."
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