Pre-order at Buy.com a Linksys
Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender for $256.99 (so
it’s double the cost of an Airport
Express but does TV!). It’s only a little odd that you can’t
also pre-order a 2005 MCE but I’m sure there is a reason for it.

What is it?

The Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center
Extender lets you bring the digital entertainment available
through and stored on your Windows Media Center PC to your Home
Entertainment Center, without running cables through the house.

The way my setup works is that my Media Center (MCE) is setup in
my living room as a LRPC (Living Room PC), and then my Media Center
Extender (MCX) is in my bedroom connected to my 13″ Gateway LCD
television. The MCX then connects to my MCE through my 802.11a
network enabling me to watch TV without having to actually hook up
my TV to a cable connection, watch recorded TV, listen to music and
view pictures.
10:09:02
AM   src="pulled_files/sharpPermaLink3.gif" width=6 border=0/>

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Thomas Hawk, href="http://thomashawk.com/2004/10/microsoft-media-center-2005.html">Microsoft
Media Center 2005… Underwhelmed

• Satellite and cable HDTV: It is pretty clear why MCE 2005 does
  not support this, the big media companies do not want to enable it
  and we cannot make it happen without their support.
  
• Dual tuners: Cannot respond just yet.
  
• Purchase the OS on a standalone basis: This is incorrect. MCE
  2005 will not sell at retail. However it will be available href="http://www.xpmce.com/News/Microsoft/Microsoft_To_Roll_Out_Windows_Media_Center_OS_To_System_Builders/">through
  the system builders channel.
  
• Online Spotlight: Napster, Movielink,.. were all available on
  MCE 2004. This is not new for 2005. Please note they we have had
  VOD for quite a while now.
  
• Charging for RSS: Newsgator is just one app featured in Online
  Spotlight. If a free competitor to Newsgator emerged and meet the
  bar for inclusion in Online Spotlight, they’d be there too.
  Microsoft is not charging for RSS.

The biggest take away from his blog entry shouldn’t be what he is
talking about, but instead it should be all the features he has not
mentioned. There are lots of new things but you will either have to
wait for Thomas to blog about them or wait for launch.

Also see href="http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2004/10/microsoft_media.html">PVR
Blog’s take on his post.

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GamePC, href="http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=xpmce2005&page=1">Symphony
Arrives : Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. It’s a ‘12 page’
article with lots of screenshots so if you have limited time skip to
href="http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=xpmce2005&page=12">the
conclusion:

MCE is still (in our opinion) the best home theater
product currently on the market by a very large margin.

The article also talks about how you will be able to buy this at
retail which is, as I pointed out below, incorrect. What this means
is that his complaint that:

Not shipping with a DVD decoding pack is frankly; near
unforgivable in our book considering this is one of the core
features of the operating system.

Is a moot one, since
the OEM or system builder will have the DVD decoding pack
pre-installed.

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href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=de1491ac-0ab6-4990-943d-627e6ade9fcb&DisplayLang=en">Windows
XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility:

The Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility helps you
determine if an MPEG-2 video decoder (also called a DVD decoder)
is installed on your Windows XP computer and whether or not the
decoder is compatible with Windows Media Player 10 and Windows XP
Media Center Edition.

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Hauppauge, href="http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvr500mce.html">WinTV-PVR-500MCE
brings TV watching with background recording to Windows XP Media
Center Edition :

Watch one channel while recording another with the
WinTV-PVR-500MCE and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
WinTV-PVR-500MCE contains two complete TV tuners, each with their
own hardware MPEG encoder!

One of these would be nice for my home theatre PC (HTPC) because
I have no open slots and cannot add a second tuner.

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Today’s the day… Check back at 11am EST.

Update: All those pulled posts are back online.

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Microsoft Monitor, Mucking Around With iTunes, MSN Music.

Interesting comparison of the two.

I’m actually stuck in a weird space between the two services since I have an iPod which only accepts iTunes music and a Media Center which does not work with iTunes but works with Napster, MSN Music,… And so I find myself buying physical CDs instead, which suprisingly is cheaper! Sure it takes about three days for them to ship, but the three day wait is worth not just saving a few dollars for, but it also means I can rip the content according to my exacting specifications, and it’s DRM free, meaning I can play it at home on the Media Center, at work on a different Media Center, and in the car on my iPod without having to deal with any weird authorization systems.

Update: Here is another critique, from the Washington Post, MSN Music Falls Just Short of iTunes’ High Marks.

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Ghetto Hardware, Media Center Bathroom Extender:

What I have done is repurposed a Xbox controller w/ built in LCD as a second display and controller for the Media Center PC in my bedroom. This allows me to change songs, pause, change volume etc.. without leaving the bathroom.

Uh, weird.

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Sorry, I can’t blog about MCE 2005 until it launches. So sit tight until then :).

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Note: While MCE 2005 is only available to ’system builders’ this does not mean you cannot buy it :). For instance, Newegg who sells to system builders stocks it and anyone can order it: Media Center 2005 at Newegg.

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Joe Wilcox at Microsoft Monitor in Media Center Moves Out My TV asks:

If not marketing, how about a little evangelism from Microsoft? Just through blogging, Microsoft created way too much buzz about next-generation-Windows Longhorn. How about blogging evangelism about Media Center, a product Microsoft sells today–not two years from now?

Good question! I find it scary that I did not even know Media Center existed until I flew down here to interview for a job as a Program Manager on the Media Center team.

The good news is that we are working to change that. While we already have several bloggers such as Michael Creasy (SDET) and Sean Alexander (Marketing) we are getting a bunch of more. Myself and my manager, both PMs on the Media Center team will start blogging, as will the techincal PM responsible for our SDK, and also a PM from the Extender team will also blog. So expect a lot to come. Of course things are all hush hush until we launch.

You can find my Media Center only blog at: mediacenter.mattgoyer.com.

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