Windows 10 Media Center dead or alive?

[Raul Haynes]

I think I can speak for the many MSFT Media Center users. Is there any chance you will included it as a add in feature? Also if you decide to charge for it , Why not charge a higher price and so we can get some feature added.
I am sure many folks out there will want to hear from MSFT on the direction of the product.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ashram]

i would like an actual upgrade to media center.... it looks the same since XP and well, i also want previous extenders to work OR a way to build your own extender.... A super light OS build that ONLY runs media center extender

 

[xandros9]

It's a Technical Preview Beta, heck, it could even be an Alpha stage product.

Did they say anywhere that Media Center was going to be scrapped? Legitimate question.
It's certainly dead as they work on 10, maybe there'll be something closer to launch?

 

[Raul Haynes]

Xandros9 - Yes its a preview but there are alpha/beta applications that came with 10. IMO if we are testing those why not have MCE10 to test?

 

[Keith Brooks]

It shouldn't have to be a add-on feature. A. They need new updated versions of both Windows Media Player & Windows Media Center. They need to kill off both Xbox Music and Xbox Videos and add their stores to WMP & WMC. They need to make Hulu Plus installable in WMC. They also need to include WMC for every Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 pc, laptop and tablet that has WMC on it now. If they don't upgrade or give us both, personally they can keep 10. I can already open modern app's on my desktop with Stardock's ModernMix. I also have a start menu, thanks to Stardock's Start8. I really don't need Windows 10. Cortana is buggy on my Nokia Lumia 1320. I don't really need it on my pc or laptop.

 

[Kevin Rush]

Windows Media Center with the Ceton InfiniTV 6 tuners is the undisputed best HD DVR available. So many options. Whole house entertainment system or just use it on your laptop computer.
Microsoft, don't let us down. We can and will pay for it, if you develop it further. It should at least be maintained in Windows 10.

 

[hoserejo]

I think it's a legitimate concern that I would like addressed. As prevalent as "cable cutting" may be, the very existence of the TV tie ins in the Xbox One show that there is a large market of cable TV users. And while I'm sure that the number of people using Media Center does nothing to justify a continued investment, I would love to see it reincarnated. It should tie in the wonderful guide from the Xbox One (including current trending videos, tie-ins to online services like netflix/hulu), but continue to support cable card and OTA recording with devices like the Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime or release their own cablecard tuner that plugs into a USB port on the computer or Xbox One. I also agree that removing Media Center would cause a great amount of hesitation toward me upgrading since I rely on it to broadcast TV to my Xbox 360. Anyway, here's to hoping it's not dead.

 

[Raul Haynes]

Kevin this may sound crazy to some folks but I will gladly pay 5 times what they are charging now if they update and support it.

 

[weatheryoko]

Would like to at least see "Sports" re-added (scores, on now, upcoming, etc). I use MCE on both my tv's. Plays 3d blu-rays, all my iTunes, radio, podcasts and all my dvd's via NAS (MyMovies) plus standard DVR (OTA) functions. Friends who are die hard Apple fans are blow away when I show them what it can do. Especially when I show them one of the systems is an original Surface Pro. I hope MS continues to support and maintain it.

Cheers,
Justin

 

[Laura Knotek]

I have Windows 8.1 Pro, so I better get Media Center in Windows 10. I paid for 8.1 Pro Pack in order to get Media Center, and I'm not paying for it again for Windows 10.

 

[Deepak]

I think I can speak for the many MSFT Media Center users. Is there any chance you will included it as a add in feature? Also if you decide to charge for it , Why not charge a higher price and so we can get some feature added.
I am sure many folks out there will want to hear from MSFT on the direction of the product.

Thanks in advance.

I think that Media Centre will not die until "Add more features" option is alive in the System Properties (Win+X+Y).
And the bad news is that the option has not been seen since Windows 8/8.1 (Excluding the Beta/Consumer Preview version of Windows 8) had launched (at least I did not see it on my Windows 8.1).

If you are lucky enough then you might get it's standalone installer from somewhere on the internet but surely MSFT may have silently scrapped it as more advanced and good apps have taken it's place, like the XBOX Music/Videos app.....

BTW, is Media Centre really needed :straight:?

 

[Laura Knotek]

I think that Media Centre will not die until "Add more features" option is alive in the System Properties (Win+X+Y).
And the bad news is that the option has not been seen since Windows 8/8.1 (Excluding the Beta/Consumer Preview version of Windows 8) had launched (at least I did not see it on my Windows 8.1).

If you are lucky enough then you might get it's standalone installer from somewhere on the internet but surely MSFT may have silently scrapped it as more advanced and good apps have taken it's place, like the XBOX Music/Videos app.....

BTW, is Media Centre really needed :straight:?

I'm a cord cutter, so I use Media Center and a USB TV tuner to watch and record local TV shows.

 

[dgr_874]

I'm a cord cutter, so I use Media Center and a USB TV tuner to watch and record local TV shows.

Same here. I send broadcast TV (in HD) it to my 5 Xbox 360's all over the house. One centralized DVR for everyone. Storage space for shows only limited by my hard drive size. And the best part....

ZERO dollars per month.

No cable box fees, no rental fees, nothing.

Microsoft could have owned the living room 10 years ago if they would have followed through on developing this system.

 

[mrpuny]

I hope that Media Center keeps on going in Windows 10, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't. I have a Windows 7 based Media Center server running headless (actually it's on a KVM switch with my main desktop) with 3 Xbox 360s as extenders around the house. I've got it set up with 4 OTA tuners and 4 cablecard tuners. (It was one of the 1st Ceton quad tuner cards that came out back in 2010, I think.) This setup is still pretty amazing today but at the time it was astounding. My wife likes to record a bunch of new shows at the start of a TV season to see if there are any she likes. The first time she did that after getting Media Center set up she asked me what was going to happen since she was sure she had too many things scheduled at one time. I looked at the list and there weren't any conflicts; I think maybe she had 5-6 shows recording at once and was stunned when I told her that wasn't a problem. Some of our friends have been interested, but only one them ended up using Media Center as an OTA DVR when they cut the cord. I guess that's a big part of the problem...

Sort of a side note, I did purchase a Windows 8 Pro license for the Win7 Media Center PC back when it was available for $40 with the free Media Center add-on, but I never upgraded since it seemed kind of pointless, especially since 3rd party extenders like the Ceton echo don't work with Windows 8. Not that I'd necessarily choose that over a 360, but there are a couple of places where I might want to put a TV where it'd be nice to have a quieter, lower power option. And it's just a sign to me that MS is winding the ecosystem down. A shame, really.

 

[Kevin Rush]

Hi,
I have been thinking about adding OTA (over the air) TV to my Windows Media Center (WMC) I have it set up as a whole house entertainment system /network with music, photos, and Comcast HD TV DVR (6 Tuner Ceton) including DRM channels ( HBO, Showtime,...).

May I ask which Tuner and antenna you use for OTA? Also, how do you schedule future recordings? Does the WMC Guide Service include OTA channels when a OTA tuner is added?

And, I haven't been able to find a tuner for FM radio?

Best Wishes

 

[anon(5335899)]

They should just buy Plex and add a Tuner channel to it..

 

[dgr_874]

Hi,
I have been thinking about adding OTA (over the air) TV to my Windows Media Center (WMC) I have it set up as a whole house entertainment system /network with music, photos, and Comcast TV (Ceton).

May I ask which Tuner and antenna you use for OTA? Also, how do you schedule future recordings? Does the WMC Guide Service include OTA channels when a OTA tuner is added?

And, I haven't been able to find a tuner for FM radio?

Best Wishes

I am currently using a Hauppage 2250 for my OTA tuner. It is a dual tuner card and also has inputs for a fm radio antenna.
Hauppauge Computer Works : WinTV-HVR-2255

If you want to really talk to some experts about this go to,

TheGreenButton

 

[Kevin Rush]

I am currently using a Hauppage 2250 for my OTA tuner. It is a dual tuner card and also has inputs for a fm radio antenna.
Hauppauge Computer Works : WinTV-HVR-2255

If you want to really talk to some experts about this go to,

TheGreenButton

Thank You. Yes. I've been to The Green Button, but strangely, if you search for FM or FM Tuner, or FM Radio, HD Radio, AM/FM Digital Tuner there are no relevant responses?

Do you use the FM radio? Does WMC allow you to record radio programs similar to the way it records TV? Multiple?

Thank you for your comments. I'll ask at TheGreenButton.TV

 

[dgr_874]

Thank You. Yes. I've been to The Green Button, but strangely, if you search for FM or FM Tuner, or FM Radio, HD Radio, AM/FM Digital Tuner there are no relevant responses?

Do you use the FM radio? Does WMC allow you to record radio programs similar to the way it records TV? Multiple?

Thank you for your comments. I'll ask at TheGreenButton.TV

Looking online, it says that you can record FM radio for later. I don't use the FM function so I can't say how it works. Sorry.

 

[Ralph Williams3]

Media Center is far more advance than the crap xbox music/videos apps. Can they record live TV? Can they even do anything with live TV? The network streaming on xbox music is garbage. It cannot even get through one song without hanging-up. No other network traffic. Homegroup network. In short, WMC is not only needed, but highly preferred to the watered down xbox music/video apps.