Microsoft packs XP with yet another ‘Plus’

REDMOND: Hoping to get computer users excited about its upcoming Windows XP

operating system, software giant Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday that it will

offer an add-on package of programs providing digital media features and video

games.

The bundle of software, called Plus! for Windows XP, will sell for about $40

and will hit shelves on October 25, the retail launch date for the XP operating

system, Microsoft product manager Geordie Wilson said in an interview.

"Plus! is basically a fun way to show off what XP can do," Wilson

said. "Plus! is not going to change the world but it's a fun product with a

lot of things that make the computer more enjoyable." The package adds

features to Microsoft's Windows Media Player software, which is used to watch

video broadcast over the Internet or to record music on a computer hard drive

and play it back.

When used with a computer microphone, the software lets users control the

media player with voice commands, like, "Media player, play artist The

Beatles," or "Media player, volume down."

Plus! also makes the media player capable of converting MP3 files - the most

popular format for recording songs on a PC - into Microsoft's WMA format, which

the company claims keeps the same sound quality while using half the disk space

of MP3.

Digital music fans who like to record their own CDs on a personal computer

will also be able to use the media player to design and print CD covers and

labels.

Other features in the Plus! package include three new video games, eight new

highly detailed screen savers and four "themes" that change the

desktop, cursor, icons and sounds to fit motifs like underwater, space or

nature.

"In qualitative terms we think this really breaks new ground. Past Plus!

products have been really popular and this one just goes further," Wilson

said. "We think it's going to do very well." The software will be

available for pre-order on Wednesday from retailers like Best Buy Co. Inc. and

Amazon.com Inc., Wilson said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.