"How do you evolve the Windows operating system to be useful and desirable in the living room? We embraced the constraints of the remote control and TV screen and developed the design mantras: ‘make it simple,’ ‘make it cool’ and ‘let the content shine.’ We took advantage of the PC processor to help bring the simple UI to life through subtle and smooth animation. Our big design challenges were creating a design that gracefully adapted for global use and for an infinite combination of hardware and interface configurations. For example, Windows Media Center can be used with a mouse in a small window on a desktop in someone’s den in Spain or with a remote control on a PC with an HDTV display specifically designed for a living room in Japan. In the end, I think our biggest design asset is that we’re a design group within a product development and business team that greatly values design."
The Windows Media Center Edition UI is one of the best I've ever seen, so this award is well-deserved. It's very intuitive, and while it has a few flaws, it's one of the best "out of the gate" efforts that Microsoft has ever done.
Windows Media Center User-Interface Wins Communication Arts Award
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