Comments on: Windows Media Center Preview in Vista Beta 2

By: Vista » Blog Archive » Windows Media Center Preview (Vista Beta 2)

Vista » Blog Archive » Windows Media Center Preview (Vista Beta 2) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:39:20 +0000

[...] read more | digg story [...]

By: Dipankar

Dipankar — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:37:41 +0000

please someone helps me to run my dat files also in vista’s media center.

By: Dipankar

Dipankar — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:36:46 +0000

i am using windows vista beta 2 i am unable to run dat files in media center. it plays only dvd movies. vista’s media center is really wonderful.

By: ChrisK

ChrisK — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:47:39 +0000

Nigel – I agree totally with you. Full Screen mode will cause system to switch display mode and become unstable. Your cry is not alone

people who have the same problem as us –
http://shellrevealed.com/forums/thread/1423.aspx

By: Jed Blog

Jed Blog — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 08:50:33 +0000

Windows Media Center (MCE)…

…

By: » Windows Media Center Preview (Vista Beta 2)

» Windows Media Center Preview (Vista Beta 2) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 05:42:15 +0000

[...] Page Summary: What this ultimately means is that MCE will become a part of so many more shipping systems than ever before. Remember that Vista already has a fairly heavy graphics requirement in order to fully run Aero. Major menu items still run up and down but sub items now scroll left and right across the screen (in the MCE 2005, frequently used selections would be to the right of the main menu item). However, do not confuse this with viewing your video collection which may included downloaded videos off the net or self made home videos.read more | digg story [...]

By: taco

taco — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 20:04:51 +0000

I have also tried MCE Vista with a pinnacle 310i and IT DOESNÂ´T WORK. Must be the driver. Back to xp then. I donÂ´t understand the purpose of making drivers that doesnÂ´t work…

By: flung

flung — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 05:08:15 +0000

Nigel – it’s been awhile since I played with the Vista build (I’ve seen placed XP back on my machine) but I vaguely remember having the same problems you described .. of course I could be wrong here.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 07:13:12 +0000

Does vista MCE still have the daft issue that exists on XP MCE where, if media centre is running full screen on a second display, and gets the focus, the mouse pointer gets locked to the MCE window?? You have to alt+tab to get it back on the main display (which causes the video to stutter). It also causes XP MCE to crash if MCE is the only app running when you try the alt+tab.

This is the #1 issue for me running HDTV + desktop LCD on same machine (my MCE box is both desktop and HTPC)

Nigel

By: brilliantdays.com | Media Centers NOT ready for primetime

brilliantdays.com | Media Centers NOT ready for primetime — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 19:48:28 +0000

[...] Update: Krunker.com has lots of screenshots from the preview of Media Center in Vista. Looks nice, and even better than Media Center in XP. But the preview version chrashed a lot: MCE frequently crashed on me when I alt-tabbed back into Windows Vista. I would also lose the video at times if I switched between applications. However, I expect Microsoft to iron out these issues before the final release of Vista which is right around the corner. [...]

By: wkuppy

wkuppy — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 09:07:38 +0000

are there any Chinese?

By: David Nixon

David Nixon — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:31:36 +0000

They have removed the ability to sort upcoming movies by star rating. Very disappointing! I also could not find a way to close Media Center using the remote control. It is a pain to leave a keyboard or mouse on the coffee tableâ€¦ feels too much like an office instead of a entertainment center.

By: erika

erika — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 08:37:50 +0000

glad to be here, felix! and thank you for your comment.

thanks for the backup and some info i didn’t know, TGT.

i’m off…

By: Socrates

Socrates — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 18:44:15 +0000

“Windows Media Center is arguably one of the best home theater personal computer user interfaces out there today” ??!

Are you smoking crack? Many poor UI elements that should have been avoided.

By: flung

flung — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 16:12:29 +0000

JohnnyM – ah good point – I didn’t notice that. I just assumed that you needed an MPEG2 decoder with the software and installed one. Ha. I’ll correct the article.

By: JohnnyM

JohnnyM — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 15:35:04 +0000

I’ve tried the MCE Vista with a Pinnacle 310i (Analog+DVB-T) and could’t tune any channel. Must be an issue with the driver downloaded from Windows Update. Also, MCE2005 asks in TV setup what kind of signal do you have (eg Analog, Digital, Satellite, Cable.) and I didn’t see that option in Vista. Back to MCE2005…

Regarding the “one final note”: the MPEG2 decoder is bundled with VISTA BETA2, so you don’t need to install any 3rd party s/w.

By: TGT

TGT — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:14:17 +0000

Before I start, I will say that I use OS X, Linux and Windows almost equally and dont really have any favourites.

frankwick your ignorance astounds me. Judging from your post you have little experience with OS X, unix or indeed most OS’s/kernels and even less knowledge.

OS X is not based on UNIX, so lets that that rather common misconception out of the way. Insofar as the “look and Feel” of OS X, lookup NeXT/Openstep. Also while you are at it, lookup GEM from digital research.

To say MCE is “finest pieces of software ever written.” is hilarious. Personally I would value Apache well above it without thinking too hard. MCE is still in embryonic stages as indeed are many of the multimedia\PVR applications we see today. Now dont get me wrong, I use and deploy MCE on a regular basis but it still has a long way to go.

“Even if the new OSX does ship before Vistaâ€¦ WHO CARES???”

Clearly you do, you seem to be getting quite upset about it!

“OSX is not a real OS”

Im not quite sure what your criteria are for an OS, care to enlighten me?

“It is a shell to an existing Unix OS”

Again, more ignorance. Its not based on Unix (neither is Linux by the way) and it is a lot more than a shell, based on the mach kernel which is BSD based.

Im all for discussing the merits of various OS\Kernels, but at least get the basics\ history right and curb your fanboyism before posting up!

Back on topic…………………..

You can’t change the recording format in MCE Vista. Its DVR-MS partly for copyright reasons and also the metadata contained in the file is what helps your “Recorded TV” list work correctly.

“Justin, dvr-ms is jpg. In fact, I think you can change the extension to jpg and it will work fine in any video player. DVR-MS files are large because of the quality.”

DVR-MS is MPEG2 with Metadata. It the reason for the size in files is because MPEG2 is very old (Circa 1992, work began in 88), space inefficent technology but it works well so some in the industry have stuck with it. Also due to its age, MPEG2 hardware decoders are fairly cheap to manufacture.

By: flung

flung — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:01:23 +0000

erika – it’s definitely nice to have people respond to articles that you write. Love the readership! Thanks for dropping by. BTW – nice work on your graphic images.

By: frankwick

frankwick — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:11:59 +0000

DVR = Digital Video Recorder. Same thing as a PVR (Personal Video Recorder). Same thing as TiVo.

The DVR/PVR function in MCE2005 is actually more functional and intuitive than that in TiVo, plus there is no monthly service fee. It is the primary app in a media center PC. My point was that FrontRow, without a PVR, is not much more than Windows Media Player with a remote. Apple essentially threw it in to say they have a 10 foot interface like MCE.

Justin, dvr-ms is jpg. In fact, I think you can change the extension to jpg and it will work fine in any video player. DVR-MS files are large because of the quality.

By: timjordan

timjordan — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 04:56:13 +0000

I wonder if I can upgrade my exsisting wmce easily….