Today at the Microsoft Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2006, Microsoft Corp. announced various PC manufacturers, independent hardware vendors (IHVs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) that are committed to supporting HD DVD in their respective products. Industry leaders showcased plans to ramp up support for HD DVD playback in PCs and on PC hardware and software in 2006 and early 2007. With a growing list of top movies available and favorable reviews of the latest HD DVD consumer electronics player already at retail, the community of hardware and software supporters for HD DVD continues to grow.

Innovative PC original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including HP, Niveus Media and Toshiba Corp. are supporting the HD DVD format through a variety of activities in connection with the HD DVD Promotion Group. Specifically, Niveus and Toshiba have announced HD DVD support in desktop, notebook and Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition-based PCs, allowing for stunning high-definition playback. A full line of IHV components from leading manufacturers such as Broadcom Corp. and Intel Corporation will also support HD DVD on PCs, and a new line of software players from CyberLink Corp., InterVideo Inc. and both software playback and professional authoring and encoding solutions from Sonic Solutions and Roxio will ensure seamless playback on Windows Vista™-based PCs and provide the professional production community with the tools they need to create HD DVD titles.