What’s missing when you use a Media Center Extender?

I’ve gotten some great comments to my first look at the Linksys DMA2100 Media Center Extender. One commenter asked whether menu options are the same when you use the Media Center interface on an extender compared with the full Media Center interface on the Vista Media Center PC to which it’s connected. The answer is no. Although virtually all the core functionality is the same, there are some differences.

Microsoft has an excellent FAQ on Troubleshooting problems with a Media Center Extender device that answers this exact question. Here’s a table listing the differences by UI area, as organized on the Media Center Start page:

Hope that’s useful information.

Note 1: GGMS-A content should play fully on any extender; the listing appears to be in error.

Note 2: I just downloaded an Amazon Unbox video (WMV format), and the Rewind/FF and Skip Forward/Back buttons work just fine when I watch it on the extender.

Note 3: Not sure what this is referring to, but the Skip functions work just fine when I watch recorded TV on an extender.

[cross-posted at Ed Bott's Windows Expertise]