Hi Mark, Article... Microsoft software screems with Pentium 2 with MMX!
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday May 8 4:01 PM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft Products Rock With Intel's Pentium II With MMX Technology
Wide Variety of Microsoft Products Use MMX to Add Rich, Diverse Multimedia Capability to Business Solutions
REDMOND, Wash., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) today announced that a broad range of Microsoft(R) products are significantly enhanced by the performance abilities of Intel Corp.'s (Nasdaq:INTC) Pentium(R) II with MMX(TM) technology. The Pentium II processor platform with MMX technology provides the best Microsoft Windows(R) operating system performance and adds rich, diverse multimedia capabilities for a new generation of business applications. Microsoft is committed to developing many products and services to optimize the benefits of the Pentium II processor. These include products such as Office 97, Microsoft Internet Explorer, NetMeeting(TM) conferencing software and NetShow(TM) networked multimedia software and services such as the DirectX(TM) set of APIs. Pentium processors with MMX technology, introduced in January, have become Intel's fastest-ramping product in history.
``We are excited that the Pentium II processor will bring in a new-generation platform for faster computing with Windows,'' said Jim Allchin, senior vice president, personal and business systems group at Microsoft. ``The Windows NT(R) Workstation operating system, in particular, runs substantially faster on the Pentium II Processor, with performance gains of up to 40 percent. Microsoft plans to take advantage of these performance gains to offer a richer Windows environment, especially for business customers.''
``The combination of Intel's Pentium II processor with Microsoft's multimedia system services will drive a whole new class of high performance multimedia-centric applications,'' said Ron Whittier, vice president and general manager, Intel Content Group. ``By taking advantage of these new technologies, business users will experience the benefits of enhanced communications and collaboration.''
Office 97
Office 97 users benefit from the performance gains that the Pentium II processor-based system with MMX is providing now and in the future. One of the key advantages of using a processor such as the Pentium II with MMX technology is the way that it helps quickly process large amounts of data. Office 97 applications run noticeably faster using the Pentium II with MMX technology. For instance, some operations in Word, such as showing an HTML page, are now up to three times faster. With MMX technology, future versions of Office will enable users to create online documents involving advanced data types such as audio, video and enhanced graphics with greatly increased performance.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
In Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0, the Pentium II enhances DirectX-based multimedia controls such as the ActiveMovie(TM) API, VRML 2.0 and Interactive Music, bringing users a much richer interactive experience than was possible before. Dynamic HTML's multimedia effects will also be optimized to take advantage of the MMX technology and are currently being implemented for delivery in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.
NetMeeting
NetMeeting enhances the way people communicate on the Internet for Internet telephony, videoconferencing, and dataconferencing. Support for MMX technology in NetMeeting for audio- and videoconferencing improves performance and richens the user's experience. H.323 audio and video codecs are optimized for MMX instructions.
NetShow
Microsoft's streaming audio and video solution, NetShow 2.0, receives a significant performance enhancement from the Pentium II processor. MMX optimization enhances the performance of the NetShow player by up to 40 percent and the NetShow Live Encoder by up to 90 percent. For example, an executive using an MMX technology-equipped laptop can now deliver live video coverage of his or her product presentation to an audience of thousands on the Internet. The performance boost for NetShow is possible because the MPEG-4 codec (audio/video compression/decompression algorithm) included with NetShow is optimized for MMX technology.
DirectX
DirectX is a set of APIs for the Windows operating system that allows developers to develop Internet-ready content that accesses specialized hardware features without having to write hardware-specific code. For these developers, DirectX offers the opportunity to expand their multimedia tools and content into new markets such as publishing, entertainment, communications and authoring tool development. DirectX with Pentium II optimizations such as MMX will bring developers improved image processing, MPEG decompression and 3-D rendering -- driving a more compelling and immersing experience for consumers in desktop and Internet-based multimedia applications.
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Mark, if you haven't tried the Netmeeting yet, it's great! I'm starting too feel a little guilty about calling my mother free long distance.
I wonder if I'll be able to get through to Florida on mother's day. :-)
Michael |
