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I once had a turn-of-the-century apartment in eastern Germany where I had to tend coal stoves in each room to keep warm. Although I no longer crouch before a stove to stay toasty, I do huddle before the glow of a computer screen to surf the Web or read e-mail. And while I no longer stoke a coal fire to maintain the flow of heat, I must frequently get up and tend my PC to keep up the flow of MP3 music.

The situation could start to change by the end of the year, however, when Microsoft introduces the PC equivalent of central heating with two modified versions of its operating systems. One turns a PC into an entertainment center, complete with a TV-style remote control. The other allows you to access the PC wirelessly from anywhere in your home.

What's on PC Tonight?

Windows XP Media Center Edition--originally known as Freestyle--adds to XP the ability to play DVDs and tune in to and record television programs. The new OS also includes a Media Center application that provides a central panel for accessing the new multimedia applications and programs in the current version of Windows XP, such as the Media Center music player.

The Media Center interface is refreshingly clean and well organized; it looks more like a digital cable TV menu than a PC application. You can navigate it using either a mouse or the provided infrared remote control.

But you can't install Media Center Edition on your current PC. Unlike other versions of Windows, Media Center Edition will only be available prepackaged with new systems that have the requisite hardware--namely a TV tuner card, the remote control and infrared receiver, and enough processing power and storage for recording television programs.

So far, Hewlett-Packard has decided to offer a Media Center system, which it plans to sell before the end of the year. While the exact configuration and price are still being set, HP says it will be in the $1000 to $2000 range, without a monitor.

Although you can't install Media Center on an old PC, you can build a Franken-freestyle system by equipping your current PC with a TV tuner card or a combination graphics and TV tuner card such as the NVidia Personal Cinema or the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 8500. (See our Step-by-Step guide for detailed instructions.) Most add-in cards come with a remote control for channel surfing; ATI's package also includes software that allows you to remotely navigate the Windows desktop and launch any program--not just the few that Media Center controls.

PC Everywhere

With a Media Center system's infrared remote control, you won't have to huddle in front of your PC, but you'll still have to be in the same room. However, another Microsoft operating system will let you step even further away.

Windows CE for Smart Displays--originally code-named Mira--will run on a new class of displays equipped with a PDA-style processor and an 802.11b wireless transmitter. These portable touchscreen LCDs will come in two sizes: a full-scale PC monitor that you can pick up and take with you and a 10-inch lap-size model. With either version, you can use your desktop PC without being bound to your desk. Microsoft thinks the displays will appeal to people who want to read e-mail or do some light surfing from the comfort of an easy chair. However, some Smart Displays will also have USB ports that allow you to attach a keyboard and set up an ad-hoc workspace wherever you want.

Smart Displays will be able to wirelessly control any PC running Windows XP Professional, with the upcoming Service Pack 1 installed, by hooking into that OS's Remote Desktop Protocol. (Currently, RDP is used to remotely control and troubleshoot systems over a wired Internet connection.) Philips, Toshiba, and ViewSonic have announced plans to sell Smart Displays in the United States in time for the holiday shopping season. They expect to announce prices in the fall.

Waiting for a Better RDP

Unfortunately, some really cool applications of Windows CE for Smart Displays will have to wait for the next version of RDP because of current limitations in the protocol. For example, you can't use it to run a Windows XP Media Center system, because RDP doesn't support the DirectX commands that Media Center uses to control the PC. That also means you can't play DirectX games on a Smart Display.

In addition, RDP allows only one user to log in to a PC at a time. So everyone in a family might have their own Smart Display, but they'll have to queue up to access the desktop.

Another problem with RDP is that it's not included in Windows XP Home Edition, although Smart Displays are targeted squarely at home users. Microsoft explains this incongruity by saying that Windows CE for Smart Displays should most appeal to the "super users" who paid an extra $100 for a home system with Windows XP Pro installed.

Prelude to the Next Big Thing?

Windows CE for Smart Displays may become more compelling in a year or two. Microsoft intends to fix the limitations in RDP by then, allowing it to support DirectX commands and multiple simultaneous users. Microsoft also hopes to extend Windows CE for Smart Displays to other devices. Though it won't name names, Microsoft says it is talking to consumer electronics companies about building Smart Display capabilities into televisions. So you might one day be able to stream a DVD video, a home movie, or MP3 music from your PC to the TV in your living room without stringing wires.

By then, the line between Windows Media Center Edition and CE for Smart Displays will blur. Jodie Cadieux of Microsoft says that the ultimate goal of Media Center Edition is to turn the PC into a central entertainment server that wirelessly beams content to TVs, stereos, and other devices throughout the home. Of Media Center Edition, she says, "This is not a one-time [product] for Microsoft. This is the long-term direction."

If Microsoft succeeds, the PC will less resemble a coal stove that heats one room and look more like a furnace that serves the entire house. And like the furnace in your basement, you won't have to go to the PC every time you want to fire up new media; you can control it remotely--like turning a thermostat dial.

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