PC Helps Bring Together The Pieces Of Yourr Digital Life (NAPS)—With more and more people buying digital cameras and portable music players these days, digital media—digital photogra- phy, music and video—is exploding in popularity. A lot of users are learning that the PC can help the everyday user become a whiz with the latest digital media trends. The key ingredient for many is a new operating system for home users. Manypeople have yet to explore the new digital media potential of their home computer. Now, anyone can produce high-quality digital video, music and photographs and send them electronically to friends and family. “The advanced technol- ogy that was considered the domainof die-hard computer geeks as little as one or two years agois so easy now that even novices can take advantage of the very latest trends in digital media,” says Tom Laemmel, product manager for Windowsat Microsoft Corp. which makes the new Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). “Maybe you just bought some music CDs, a digital camera or a camcorder,” Laemmel adds. “If you’re using Windows Me, those things just get better. You can copy, With new devices like digital cameras and portable music players appearing in many homestoday, having an up-to-date home PC becomeseven more valuable. few clicks of the mouse, they can listen to Elvis, Mozart or a combi- nation of both without hearing the songs they don’t like. “But these features,” says Laemmel, “are just the tip of the iceberg.” Windows Meincludes many improvements—such as an inte- grated Internet experience, the Home Networking Wizard and PC sort, organize and share video footage, music and pictures. With health advances—that enhance the usability of the home computer. those other devices.” In addition, with an up-to-date home computer setup, music lovers can transfer all their CDs to their personal computers and create playlists of any combination of styles, artists or genres. With just a home anddiscover that there had been some‘fixing’ going on,” recalls WindowsMe,the PC adds value to “T used to go over to my parents’ Keith Powell, who installed the operating system on his parents’ computer. Now Powell doesn’t have to worry about his parents deleting critical system files. System File Protection, a new feature, protects these critical files from accidental deletion. This feature alone, Powell says, has gone a long way toward solving the problems that arise whenhis parents begin “fixing” things on their PC. According to Laemmel, Windows Meputs the PC at the heart of the homeby enabling users to be more productive and creative. “This means families can devote their attention to what’s important to them in home computing—whether it’s music or video, playing games or surfing the Internet—without finding technology to be a barrier.” For more information, visit the Website at http://(www.microsoft. com/windowsme/.
