GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that C|Net has discovered that Microsoft is
taking Media Center on a world tour. According to the article Microsoft will hit the road to visit Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and Turkey. The above listing are the countries that will be introduced to the new OS later this year. What they expect to accomplish with this publicity campaign is anyones guess, but it probably will not be better sales, even by their own admission.
"It's not going to tremendously boost sales, to be honest, because we are working our way down the list of big markets," said Media Center product manager Tom Laemmel. At the same time, expansion is important if Media Center is to evolve from niche product to mainstream operating system. "It shows that trend of Media Center growing up and becoming a regular version of Windows," Laemmel said. |
It may also be that in most of the countries where it is already available, no one really seems to want it. Even though the Media Center may be "growing up" Microsoft has a tough road to hoe if they think people are going to shell out the bucks required. The MCE is more than just an Operating System it is a concept and one that does not come cheap. Hardware requirements are loosening up, but it has a long way to go before it can truly be considered "Mainstream". In adddition, those out there that are the early adopters may very well be what we could call enthusiasts and maybe they are afraid to join hands with Microsoft on this technology. Maybe they would rather investigate other solutions.
Source: C|Net
