Microsoft unveils windows media

Netflix's instant-watch videos are of course already available through the site itself, as long as you've got the correct Silverlight software installed, and the partnership between Microsoft and Netflix to bring Instant Watch to the Xbox is nearly a year old now.

There was even an extension available that melded certain Netflix and WMC functions -- written, as it happened, by a Netflix employee having some fun. Ben Reed, a senior product marketing manager for WMC, says that the value proposition here is the ease of discovery: Users love their online video viewing, but would prefer not to have to root around multiple sites to find the good stuff, not to mention having to learn a new set of controls for every player around.

The arrangement makes sense in light of recent efforts by Microsoft both to bulk up Media Center's offerings and to bring its TV, movie, and music thinking into closer accord.

More broadly, this move brings the company's "three screen" vision of viewing any content on your PC or your TV or your mobile device a bit closer to reality. The Windows in the car concept essentially extends the functionality of a Windows Phone directly into a built-in car display. During the demo — which crashed at one point, demonstrating it's clearly a concept — Teixeira describes how developers will be able to create apps that are designed for the car. A marketplace is shown in some parts of the user interface, and it all looks a lot like a miniature version of Windows 8.

There's swiping between tiles and the main interface, and sections for radio, maps, and apps. Much like how Apple unveiled its iOS in the car before it turned into CarPlay, this Windows in the car concept isn't ready to ship just yet. Teixeira doesn't provide a date on when we should expect such a system to exist, or whether car manufacturers have expressed interest in using Mirrorlink and Microsoft's idea of Windows in the car.

It might be some time before we see this in reality, but at least Microsoft is aware it needs to take a different approach to getting its products into the cars of the future. Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week.

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Microsoft has released a new Media Player for Windows Microsoft unveils entertainment software The company is set to announce Tuesday the availability of new entertainment software for Windows XP, featuring tools for handling music, movies and photos on the PC. Stefanie Olsen. Microsoft will announce on Tuesday availability of new entertainment software for the Windows XP operating system, featuring fresh tools for handling music, movies and photos on the PC.

Even if they bought a Pentium 3 or 4 computer, this will bring them a lot closer to the ease of use of, say, the iMac. The Windows XP hybrid features a second interface for accessing digital media features, including a digital video recorder DVR for recording TV shows to the computer's hard drive.