"...The Mount Rainier Group, led by industry leaders Compaq, Microsoft, Philips Electronics and Sony, have announced the finalization of the Mount Rainier specifications. The specifications are designed to fuel continued adoption of CD ReWritable as the removable medium of choice for data storage and interchange in a PC environment. The overall objective of the Mount Rainier group is to increase ease-of-use and compatibility of CD-RW by enabling Operating System support of CD-RW drives.

The Mount Rainier group will build on the success of CD-RW by enabling native operating system (OS) support of CD-RW drives and background formatting. This will ensure greater compatibility, eliminate users' dependence on proprietary read drivers, and make the technology easier to use. The benefits to the consumer will include an overall enhanced "drag and drop" experience with even greater ease-of-use and compatibility with the worldwide installed base of more than 300 million CD-ROM drives. The PC industry will benefit based on a reduced overall system cost with less need for legacy support; additional functionality and continued market demand..."