Microsoft Corp is today scheduled to talk about its vision of the Simply Interactive Personal Computer, a dream that has the support of such industry names as Compaq Computer Corp, Toshiba Corp, Sony Corp and Gateway 2000 Inc. Microsoft is scheduled to outline its blueprint in San Jose today, and the first machines could reach the market by the middle of next year – if manufacturers like the concept. That is a big if, given the way the Bob user interface and Microsoft at Work seem to have sunk without trace. The Simply Interactive machine is intended to support a television as well as a monitor as the screen, and will have a broadband interface for 400Mbps data transmission. Internet access and links to domestic appliances are said to be part of the plan, but as the target is the slightly more than mythical $500 Internet access device, the fact that the operating system is said to be derived from memory-ravenous Windows95 does not inspire hope.
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