I just got the announcement from Microsoft that Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is available. The main reason to install it is because it fixes a slew of bugs, according to Matt Goyer.
I find it interesting that most of the new features called out in the press release are essentially meaningless for existing owners. Here are the features that were highlighted, with my comments in italics:
- Xbox 360 Extender functionality. Customers can seamlessly access digital music, video, photos, and standard and high-definition television and movies on Media Center Edition 2005-based PCs through any Xbox 360 game console in the house. Do you know anyone with an Xbox 360? I don’t. (Microsoft, if you want to send one my way, you have my address…)
- Away Mode. Away Mode will bring the convenience, quiet performance and instant on/off functionality of consumer electronics to the Media Center PC. This feature requires new hardware that is not yet available for sale.
- DVD changer support. Media Center now offers integrated support for external DVD changers, enabling consumers to watch movies and manage DVD selections (up to 200) from the Media Center interface. Again, this feature requires new hardware that is not yet available. I actually have a 300-DVD Pioneer changer; it sure would be nice to use it with Media Center, but that’s not going to happen, apparently.
- DVD-burning improvements. Updates to the Sonic DVD burning engine improve the performance and capabilities of DVD burning in Media Center. Now consumers can convert high-definition TV shows to standard definition and burn to a DVD all in one step. If you built your own Media Center PC, as I did, the Sonic software is not included. For some reason, this feature is free with computers built by big-name OEMs but is not bundled in single-copy OEM media.
- Additional HDTV tuner support. Update Rollup 2 provides support for up to four TV tuners. Users will now be able to utilize two NTSC (analog) capture boards and two ATSC (digital) capture boards. Supports over-the-air HD only, which means that most people won’t be able to use it.
So there. Five new highlighted features, none of which are useful to me or most current Media Center owners.
One feature that is available is the one that “optimizes” system performance by restarting all Media Center services at 4:00 AM (or whatever time you specify). So what happens if I’m recording a movie from a pay channel that runs from 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM?
Harrumph.
–> So what happens if I’m recording a movie from a pay channel that runs from 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM?
Your recording is not affected. We recognize something important is happening and don’t restart the services which would affect the experience.
That’s reassuring. Shouldn’t that detail be in the documentation?
One feature they never mention is the new nonlinear zoom mode for making 4:3 content fill a 16:9 screen. I’ve always hated the side letterboxing of 4:3 content on my HDTV. Panasonic has a fantastic mode they call “Just” (for justified, I’m guessing) for doing this on their TVs, but it doesn’t even show up as an option when the incoming signal is already 16:9 (1280×720 in my case). It was lack of a good nonlinear zoom that made me continue watching my SD content off my TiVo even though the picture quality was better on my MCE box. Now all they need to do is autodetect the source format and switch the zoom mode accordingly so I don’t have to keep doing it myself when I switch from HD to SD content.
The optimize stuff wasn’t too interesting to me, since I do a complete defrag and reboot every morning at 5am. That has done wonders in making sure my all my programs are recording (instead of starting up my computer to a crashed MCE shell) and are stutter-free.
BTW, for those reading who may not have used it, the new zoom mode is accessed through the standard zoom menu – push “Info” while watching a program and select “Zoom”, then keep pushing “Select” (or “OK” depending on your remote) to cycle through the modes. Nonlinear stretch is mode 4.
I too would like to be able to record HDTV from a STB, but I can probably live without it for now. What really bothers me, though, is still no support for streaming digital content. I HAVE reasonable OTA HD support, at least for 90% of what I would use, so why oh why can’t I send that to my linksys extender.
I’m sure its a firmware update, but why would it matter if the content is digital vs analog (NOT the same as hi-def vs SD).
I was excited about the DVD changer part until I saw that it doesn’t work with existing models. I’ve been working on ways to manage everything and this would be perfect if I didn’t have to trash the current player to take advantage of it. Boo.
Ed, thanks for the burst bubble!
Guess I have to wait for the VIIV models in Q1/06
You should post this in The Hive
I downloaded the rollup, only to find I no longer have tv… Tried to then uninstall the rollup, only to be told that mediacentre 2005 may no longer work if I do so…
Where do I go from here?
PFC,
Head over to Aaron Stebner’s site. He’s a Microsoft employee from the Media Center time, and he’s volunteered to help people having issues with UR2.