Microsoft to Add ITV to New PC Software

Staff -- Multichannel News, 9/11/2000

Seattle-Microsoft Corp. confirmed in published reports last week that it would incorporate elements of its interactive-television software into its next "Windows" operating-system release.

The company wasn't available for further comment prior to deadline.

Microsoft told Reuters Group plc the new Microsoft TV-enabled Windows OS won't replace set-top boxes as the prime conduit of interactive-television content, noting that PCs and set-top boxes could play together in that space.

Microsoft's next Windows release, code-named "Whistler," is slated for release next year. The company planned to give its first public demonstration of the software and to show off its interactive-TV capabilities last Friday at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Delays in Microsoft's set-top-box software have forced AT & T Broadband and United Pan-Europe Communications N.V. (UPC) to curb their initial plans for advanced interactive-TV-product deployments.