REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 14, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. announced today that future versions of Microsoft® Windows Media™ Technologies will be optimized to take advantage of the significant innovations in Intel Corp.’s soon-to-be-released Pentium® 4 processor. Designed for both consumers and content providers, the new Intel® Pentium 4 processor incorporates advanced technology designed to maximize performance of digital media applications, both today and in the future, while keeping consumers and content developers on the cutting edge of the Internet.
Specific attention in the Pentium 4’s development was focused on Internet, imaging, streaming video, speech, 3-D, multimedia and multitasking user environments. Microsoft will be optimizing Windows Media Technologies to take full advantage of these innovations. The Windows Media Player, Windows Media Encoder, and Windows Media Audio and Video formats will all be optimized to help both consumers and digital media content developers get the most out of their new Pentium 4-powered PCs.
“With its faster pipeline and Intel’s Netburst™ micro-architecture technology, the Pentium 4 processor will provide a great experience for Windows Media content creators and consumers alike,”
said Dave Fester, general manager of the Digital Media Division at Microsoft Corp.
“Windows Media optimizations will ensure the best digital media performance on your PC, whether you’re a content creator who wants the fastest live or on-demand video encoding speeds, a consumer who wants the best performance possible using the Windows Media Player or editing your home movies with Windows® Movie Maker.”
“The Pentium 4 processor was designed from the ground up to meet the needs of consumers who look to use their PCs for compelling applications involving digital media,”
said Dan Russell, general manager of Intel’s Solutions Enabling Group.
“By optimizing Windows Media Technologies to take advantage of the new capabilities of the Pentium 4 processor, Microsoft will continue to be instrumental in transforming the digital media experience.”
Streamed and downloadable digital media are ideal PC applications to take advantage of Intel’s core Pentium 4 innovations including the new 400MHz system bus and Streaming SIMD Extension 2 (SSE2) instruction set. The 400MHz system bus provides a 3.2 gigabyte transfer speed between the Pentium 4 processor, three times the bandwidth of the Intel Pentium III processor system bus and the memory controller. The Windows Media Format optimized for the SSE2 instruction set on the Pentium 4 will enable lower processor use at the same bit rate, boosting efficiency and performance for both consumers who want to enjoy digital media activities on their PCs and content developers who want to develop dynamic and rich digital media audio and video content.
Availability
Windows Media Technologies optimized for Intel’s new Pentium processor are scheduled to be available in the next release of Windows Media Technologies sometime next year.
About Windows Media
Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry’s only integrated rights-management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation, and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK) for software and hardware developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Windows Media and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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