Microsoft Corporation will unveil Windows Millennium Edition ("Windows Me") on May 26, 2000. This last version of Windows 98, which features the user interface from Windows 2000 as well as a small collection of updated consumer-level tools, recently received its official product title, designed to remind users that the OS is designed for individuals, not businesses.
Millennium features a new TCP/IP stack, a System Restore feature, silent installation of USB keyboards, mice, and hubs, a Movie Maker application for recording, editing, publishing, and organizing audio and video content, the removal of Real mode DOS, and a number of other small improvements over Windows 98. Microsoft is designing this release around four key goals, digital media and entertainment, the online experience, home networking, and "it just works," a marketing phrase designed to promote Millennium's self-healing capabilities and compatibility with a vast array of hardware and software.
Windows Millennium Edition will also ship in a variety of foreign language versions. The Latin American version will debut alongside the English version on May 26th. German and Spanish versions are due June 9th. On June 16, 2000, French and Italian versions will ship, along with Brazilian, Dutch and Swedish versions on June 20. A Japanese version is due June 25. In July, the Danish version will ship on the 5th, the Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Norwegian versions will ship on the 10th, and the Simplified Chinese, Finish and Portuguese versions will ship on the 15th.
Windows Millennium Edition is the last version of Windows that will be based on the old Windows 9x codebase. The next major revision of Windows, code-named "Whistler," will feature a consumer edition that is based on Windows 2000. News of Whistler was first revealed in WinInfo two weeks ago. For more information about Millennium, please visit my Millennium FAQ.
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