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Archives: Windows Media Center Edition

Reviews, add-ins, hardware, tips, and news about Windows XP Media Center 2005. If you're thinking about upgrading to an MCE machine, you'll find links to related blogs and online communities here as well.

Media Center hits the mainstream

Market research firm Current Analysis says sales of Media Center PCs have skyrocketed since July 9: For the week ending August 20, 2005, Media Center PCs accounted for 43% of all desktop personal computers sold in the U.S. retail market, based on data from a sampling of U.S. retailers. Accounting...

A rich man's view of Media Center

No doubt about it... The Robb Report is a magazine for rich men. I say "men" deliberately, because this magazine is aimed at gadget freaks with lots and lots of disposable income, the "boys and their toys" crowd. I was pleasantly surprised to see this review of Windows Media Center Edition 2005 in...

Is the latest Media Center update ready yet?

On Saturday, I wrote briefly about a post that Chris Lanier published on his site, which speculated about the ship date of Windows XP Media Center Edition Update Rollup 2. So ... did that code actually ship as scheduled last week? The Neowin article that Chris used as his source...

When will the next Media Center update arrive?

Chris Lanier asks the rhetorical question, When Will Media Center Update Rollup 2 Ship? According to Neowin, what we know now as Windows XP Media Center Edition Update Rollup 2 RTM’d on August 12th (Last Friday).  However, when might the actually web release be if it RTM’d on August 12th? ...

HDTV, MCE, DRM, and DCMA

My lack of connectivity last week kept me out of the latest round of the DRM debate. Chris Lanier started it with a very sensible post here. He makes the point that DRM is already a major part of the digital media ecosystem, and in fact most of it is practically...

Media Center already does HDTV!

Matt Haughey at PVRBlog gets suckered by misunderstands SnapStream's Beyond TV 4 announcement: SnapStream have announced their next major rev will include support for HDTV recording and playback. This is pretty significant, as HDTV support in software PVR applications is still fairly new, with MythTV's HD playback in early stages. It...

PVRs won't hit the mainstream for years

If you own a TiVo, or a Media Center PC, or a PVR from your cable company, you're part of an elite. A new research report from Accenture says that the percentage of U.S. homes with personal video recorders will increase by 500% in the next four years, but even in...

The importance of photo sharing sites to Media Center

Thomas Hawk posted some excellent comments to a recent post here and then turned those comments into a post on his own blog. He's absolutely, 100% right. Digital photography is a killer feature that is getting people excited about PCs again. Managing photos, digitally manipulating them, turning them into slide...

Thomas Hawk wants his HDTV, now!

Thomas Hawk is betting that Chris Lanier is right and I'm wrong in our predictions of when CableCARD HDTV support will arrive in Windows Media Center PCs. (Chris says in the Longhorn timeframe, late 2006, I say a lot sooner.) In separate comments to my post and to Thomas's post,...

When will HDTV over cable come to Media Center?

When will you be able to plug a digital cable into your PC and record HDTV signals? It might be a lot sooner than you think. Maybe before the end of this year. I realize that's not the current conventional wisdom. Last month, Chris Lanier speculated that Windows-based Media Center...

Media Center update due in August?

A report by Tom Warren in Neowin says Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Due In August. Details, which appear (based on their geek-speak quotient) to have been snipped from a developer's checklist, include: Native digital cable Content Protection Improve burning (DRM, network, Hi-def, DVD-RAM) MCX on WinCE clients...

Tip of the day: Get the ultimate list of Microsoft keyboard shortcuts

You say you hate to take your hands off the keyboard to click the mouse? Then you'll love this master list of keyboard shortcuts covering a long, long list of Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer 6 and nearly every program in the Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 families. If you use...

Media Center Extender bargains

Tim Coyle posted a review of his HP x5400 Media Center Extender. His conclusions are generally positive, with the exception of some networking issues. (And Microsoft's Matt Goyer explains that those might have been avoided if Tim had chosen hardware from the compatibility list.) I've been using a Linksys Media Center Extender...

One more time: You CAN legally buy a copy of Media Center Edition

The other day, I pointed to a post by a Microsoft blogger who claimed you can't legally buy an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition unless it's installed on a new PC. I provided lots of evidence to prove that's not true, including quotes from Microsoft's Web site and from...

Can you buy an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition? Yes.

Michael Creasy answers some questions on his blog and gets one wrong: I've seen the Media Center software for sale online is it OK to buy it? I'm no lawyer so I'm not going to comment on this. Media Center is an OEM product and only available with new PCs is...

A bigger, better list of MCE add-ons

Wow. By following a link in my referral logs I found this great-looking list of Media Center Edition add-ons, courtesy of BenN. It's much better than the list I linked to earlier this week from The Green Button, because each link goes directly to the page that hosts the add-on...

The big, big list of Media Center add-ins

Chris Lanier at The Green Button has updated his comprehensive list of third party applications and plug-ins for Media Center. This is an excellent resource if you have a Media Center PC....

New Xbox = Media Center hub or extender?

Bill Gates spilled the beans on some upcoming Xbox features in a meeting of business journalists on Monday. The AP has the story: The console, code-named Xenon, is due to be previewed in an MTV half-hour special later this month. Gates, Microsoft's chairman and co-founder, was vague on specific features...

Quieter, cooler PCs

I just got out of a fascinating session at WinHEC on designs for new Media Center PCs. Nvidia has been researching heat and noise in PC design, with a special emphasis on creating PCs that are quiet and cool enough to pass the living-room test. Heat comes from some surprising sources....

Update for DVD creation on Media Center

You've probably already heard about the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Create DVD Update. According to the official write-up, this patch ... oops, I mean update ... "enables increased reliability when creating a video DVD using recorded TV files (.dvr-ms)." I won't be installing it, though, until I have...

A Media Center newcomer with energy

Tim Coyle has jumped into the Media Center world with both feet, and his site, The F-Stop Blues (tagline: Getting your digital life in focus), is earning some nice buzz. It helps that the site is loaded with insightful, well-researched content and looks good, too. In a smart move, Tim reached out to some well-established members of...

Why I don't use registry cleaners

Via Matt Goyer, John Hoole offers this cautionary tale: just a note to say if you have Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (probably all versions actually) steer clear of registry clean programs such as Reg Mechanic they go through your registry and delete unnecessary keys..... sounds good but it...

Media Center users, let the bidding begin!

Last month, I posted the news that eBay listings are coming soon to Media Center. Well, they're here.  In the comments to that earlier post, Christoph Buenger writes: thanks for the appreciation! and it's even getting better: mceAuction Beta is available for download at www.cbuenger.com. have fun with it Be sure...

Two tuners in your Media Center PC

Peter Near reports that Hauppauge's PVR-500 now actually supports dual set-top boxes: The Hauppauge PVR-500 was one of, if not the first dual tuner card on the market for MCE 2005. Many people were quickly disappointed to find that it only offers dual tuning for those using analog cable. Anyone...

I finally got Newsgator Media Center working!

The folks at NewsGator must be spitting mad over all the attention that the TiVo Bloglines add-in is getting. (Over the weekend, I posted my preliminary thoughts, which basically boiled down to "Why would I want this?") They must have gone crazy when they read this post from Alexander Grundner at eHomeUpgrade, who...

Media Center add-ins

Chris Lanier at The Green Button has assembled a huge list of Windows Media Center add-ins. It’s almost enough to make me want to come home from vacation a day early so I can try some of these out. Almost....

Thomas Hawk concludes his Media Center interview

Thomas Hawk has posted part 4 of his interview with Microsoft's Media Center Bloggers. It’s a bit of an anticlimax, because the talk is mostly about future development plans, and the answers are (predictably), “Sorry, we can’t talk about that yet.” But the whole package is still worh reading....

eBay listings coming soon to Media Center

In the comments to my TiVo versus MCE versus Cable post, Christoph Bünger sends along this teaser to his upcoming eBay plug-in for Media Center: mceAuction will include: Search auctions View auctions with images and description Bid on auctions 'Buy Now' support My eBay ("Items I'm Watching", "Items I'm Bidding On",...

More from Microsoft's Media Center Bloggers

Thomas Hawk has posted Part Two and Part Three of his four-part interview with three Microsoft bloggers who focus on Media Center. (If you missed Part One, you might want to read it first.)  I especially like the fact that these guys encourage questions and comments from readers: [Sean Alexander]: The most valued comments...

TiVo versus MCE versus my cable company

These are rough times for a TiVo fanatic. The company and its groundbreaking box are getting squeezed into irrelevance. On the one side, cable companies offer their own DVR boxes, which may not be elegant but are easy and cheap. On the other side, you have PC-based solutions like Windows XP...

Thomas Hawk interviews Microsoft's Media Center bloggers

What’s most remarkable to me about Windows XP Media Center Edition is how quickly it has developed a high-quality user community. You’ve got independent sites with busy forums (The Green Button and xpMCE.com). You’ve got Media Center MVPs like Peter Near and Chris Lanier, to name just two. And then there...

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 setup instructions

Charlie Owen’s new blog is up and running, and his first substantive post includes some very detailed content for anyone thinking of going the do-it-yourself Media Center route. His collection of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Setup Instructions consist of four PDF files that explain (and show in great detail) how to...

Turn your Pocket PC into a Media Center remote

eHomeUpgrade picks up this intriguing press release for a new Pocket PC program called Niveus Pocket Remote. The Niveus software enables the Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC to communicate wirelessly with any Media Center PC, allowing users to control their Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based PC from the palm of their...

A new Media Center contender?

Wired News has a solid story on the DEMO conference: Six Minutes to Stand Out. Reporter Daniel Terdiman singled out one company that also impressed me with its six-minute presentation: …cable TV companies may find themselves threatened by Mediabolic, whose network media player is designed to give TV viewers a previously unavailable...

Find Media Center-compatible components

Thinking of building your own Media Center PC? Chris Lanier points out the the hardware compatibility list, officially known as the Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Logo Partner List, was recently updated. I was surprised to see how many TV tuner cards are now on the supported list....

Media Center wish lists

Sean Alexander notes that Windows Media Center Edition has a full-fledged software development kit and wonders: “What applications, games, and services would really make MCE shine?” Thomas Hawk came up with a long list that boils down to one statement: “MCE should own the home.” I’m not sure I agree with...

X10 interface for Windows Media Center

MCESoft links to the new MyHome plug-in, which allows you to control an X10 home automation system via a PC running Windows Media Center Edition 2005: MyHome for Media Center is a plug-in to control your X10 home automation system. At this time it's programmed to work with the PowerLinc II Serial/TW523...

Category-specific RSS feeds

As an experiment, I’ve created two new RSS feeds for this site. The main feed includes every post. The two new feeds provide only posts that are in the Security or Windows Media Center Edition categories. Both feeds are RSS 2.0 with full content. Full site feed Security feed Windows...

ATI's new TV tuner board

Microsoft’s Sean Alexander may have moved over to the Longhorn group (congrats, Sean!) and off the Media Center team, but he’s still posting good stuff at Addicted to Digital Media: ATI's new Home Theater 550 Pro-based ATI TV Wonder Elite TV Tuner board was just released and started shipping to retailers...

Eavesdropping on an MCE support call

First, Thomas Hawk posts a long entry about his MCE Television and LaCie Big Disk Problems: Well this weekend I attempted to rehook a television signal back into my MCE machine and I was reminded that television indeed may be the biggest thing still holding Media Center back. The issue...

What's the point of digital media?

In the comments to my previous post on ripping a CD collection into digital format, Ken asks some good questions: Ed, educate me. I use my home computer primarily for e-mail, Internet browsing and research, word processing, the occasional PC game, and CD burning -- but not CD ripping for...

Peter Near compares Media Center Extenders

XBox or HP? I personally believe that the XBox is the perfect client for Windows XP Media Center Edition, and have been pushing for this option for years. I was ecstatic when I found out that the Extender for XBox was in development.I’m now lucky enough to own both the HP...

MCE 2005 and HDTV

In a comment on a post about Longhorn, my buddy Michael writes: I'm confused about one thing: [Paul Thurrott] has a lengthy discussion about Windows MCE 2005 and it's support for HDTV. But he has it as "already been released", but I thought it was still a few months away. (maybe he's talking...

Cable HDTV in Windows Media Center?

This little paragraph was dropped in casually in the middle of a write-up on the new Shuttle Media Center XPC at AnandTech: The XPC is obviously designed for a more set-top applications and thus will also feature a cable card reader as well as HDTV output. The next version of Microsoft's Windows...

Media Center 2005: Hit or miss?

Over at PaidContent.org, Jeremy Allaire sent in five predictions for 2005. This was the most interesting one, in my opinion: -- Microsoft Media Center 2005 Will Be a Hit. Third times a charm, and Microsoft now has a very strong product in the market. The PC industry is putting real...

MCE Extenders reviewed

AP Technology Writer Matthew Fordahl has a thorough review of his experience with a Media Center Extender today. He describes the benefits well and nails the one big drawback of these devices: They do not work well with wireless 802.11g network connections (although it's possible that a dedicated 802.11a connection...

MCE resource wiki

Phat Matt (Matt Fletcher) has created an MCE wiki (a collaborative, community-based collection of content and links). You can view it here: MCE 2005 - Windows Media Center Edition 2005 Resources. Because it's a wiki, anyone can add or edit content. Cool idea....

MCE plug-ins

If you have a Media Center PC (or if you're thinking about getting one), bookmark mcesoft.nl: Media Center Plug-ins are little programs that give new possibilities or expand existing functionality to your Windows XP Media Center Edition. Many programmers have made and are still making these Media Center plug-ins to...

MCE add-ins: My Weather, My Netflix

Ryan Hurst has put together some excellent add-ins for Windows Media Center 2005. I just installed one that provides local weather data from the Weather Channel and another that lets me browse and edit my Netflix queue using the MCE 10-foot interface. Very cool! (If only they worked with a...

More on Media Center performance

Thomas Hawk has an interesting analysis of how Windows Media Centrer Edition is doing today. In Media Center PCs So Far Not In Starring Role, he points to a Reuters article and writes: There are two major problems that I see with Media Center Edition as it stands now. The...

Bellissima!

Thanks to Mavromatic (a blog I had never heard of before) for this pointer to the Teatro D1 - The Super Media Center 2005 PC. Unbelievable! This is one sexy Windows Media Center PC. The TEATRO D1 is like any finely crafted Italian product. It sports a built-in 7" 1280x720...

MCE 2005 FAQ

The AVS Forum is filled with really smart people who know a lot about all sorts of digital home entertainment topics. I stumbled across their Mce 2005 Faq today. Wow! What a great resource. They've even managed to get Jay P. Kapur, Lead Program Manager of the Windows Media Center...

MCE communities

If you're thinking about buying or building a Media Center PC, here are two communities of users that can be a big help: The Green Button (TGB) is run by a couple of Media Center enthusiasts and has an excellent forum, as well as links to downloads and their own...

Media Center Extender arrives

I finally got a Linksys Media Center Extender. Impressive! It plugged right in, set up quickly, and works extremely well over my wired Ethernet connection. I'm not sure how well a wireless connection would do, so I'm glad I made sure to put an Ethernet jack behind the TV when...

Building a new Media Center PC

I'm so thrilled with the way my test PC runs Windows Media Center Edition 2005 that I'm building a new MCE system from scratch. Coincidentally, Scoble pointed me to Matt Goyer, who is doing the same thing. Here are his specs: I'm building an NTSC Media Center for my family....

I want one of these, please

TrustedReviews looks at a very, very, very cool new PC design: There are two critical requirements for a Media PC that's going to reside in your living room, it has to look great and be quiet as a mouse. Unfortunately, these two requirements are poles apart when it comes to...

Building my own Media Center PC

I've successfully upgraded a not-so-old PC to Windows XP Media Cetner Edition 2005, and so far it's going great. I started with the Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Logo Partner List, picking up an OEM copy of Windows MCE 2005 (naturally), a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250MCE capture card, Nvidia's...

Windows XP Media Center 2005

Earlier this year, Microsoft sent me a Gateway computer running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004. I was able to play with it for about a month before I had to send it back. I can definitely see the potential in this OS, and in fact I've been able to...