According to a report in InfoWorld, Microsoft is preparing to release the
second beta release of its new multimedia graphics tool, code-named
"Chrome," to private beta testers. Chrome--once thought to be part of
Internet Explorer 5.0--is actually a "data visualization tool" that can be
added on to Windows 98 or Windows NT 5.0. It allows Web developers to add
multimedia features to HTML using Microsoft's DirectX technology, which was
previously only available to Windows games developers. Microsoft says that
the merging of HTML and DirectX will lead to more interactive capabilities
for users and an easier programming model for developers. With these
capabilities, however, comes a heavy price: Chrome requires some serious
PC hardware.
"The initial PCs that will run the Chrome feature of Windows 98 are going
to be 350 MHz Pentium boxes," said Brad Chase, VP of Windows Marketing and
Developer Relations at Microsoft. "You're not going to be able to have this
on a standard Pentium today."
More specifically, Chrome requires a 350+ MHz or Pentium II processor with
a 100-MHz bus, 4+ MB of video memory, and 64+ MB of RAM. Chrome is expected
to be complete by the end of the year