Windows Media Center on Windows 7: Better than Ever
I fondly remember my first Windows Media Center PC – a Gateway FMC-901X running Windows XP Media Center Edition. Back then, you couldn’t buy a retail copy of Windows with Media Center; only OEMs could get it so you had to buy a computer with it preinstalled (of course, there were ways around this, but that was the official party line). We had it hooked up to a big old 58 inch rear projection Sony, and thought it was the coolest thing in the world to be able to record our favorite TV programs onto the computer’s hard drive – without paying a monthly fee as our TiVO-using friends had to do.
We’ve come a long way since then, and so has Windows Media Center. By including the Media Center application in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions, Microsoft finally brought it into the mainstream. And with Windows 7, they’ve gone one better: Media Center is built into all editions except Starter and Home Basic (although IT admins can easily disable it on business machines).
This means far more computer users will be exposed to WMC, which is a great application for organizing and displaying your digital photos and home videos and for organizing and playing your digital music. However, to get the full advantage of WMC, you need a TV tuner card for your computer. This lets you turn your computer into a full-featured DVR.
Our current WMC PC is an HP quad-core connected to a Sharp Aquos 65 inch flat panel TV, with dual Hauppauge tuners, dual booting Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 RC. A number of great improvements have been made to WMC in Windows 7. One of those improvements can also be a bit of a frustration: there is a new format for recording TV programs, .WTV. This is an improvement because the .WTV files are smaller than those in the old Media Center format, .DVR-MS. But it’s a frustration because the .WTV files won’t currently play on Windows Vista Media Center computers, so if you like to share files among your computers, that’s a consideration.
You can play the .WTV files on Windows Media Player 12, which comes with Windows 7, as well as through Media Center. And there is a solution for the file sharing problem, albeit a somewhat awkward one. If you right click a .WTV file in Windows Explorer, you get the option to convert it to .DVR-MS, as shown in the figure below.
Another nice feature in Windows 7 is the integration of the taskbar jump list, which makes it easy for you to play new recorded TV programs right from the jump list, without having to go through the list in the WMC interface. You can also play your favorite music or display your favorite pictures from the list, or open up the program guide, as shown in the figure on the right.
There is also a Media Center gadget available from the list of default gadgets in Windows 7. It shows, in a small window on the desktop, your recently recorded TV programs, available TV channels, movies, news, sports, music, and more. If you click on the name of a recorded TV program in the gadget, a fly-out panel will show you details about the recorded program (channel, time recorded and program synopsis). You can then click the program title in the fly-out and Media Center will open and start playing that program.
The WMC interface has a new, subtly improved but not drastically different look. For instance, when you click on the Music Library, your album covers are displayed in a grid pattern. The same thing happens with the Picture and Movie libraries.
Recorded TV programs are displayed a little differently. By default, they’re shown in a “lineup” view, which is attractive, but doesn’t give you nearly as much information per screen as the old view in Vista. Never fear, though; you can change back to the old list view if you prefer, as shown in the figure below.
Some of the best improvements don’t show up in screenshots. For instance, playback performance is much better when you fast forward or skip through a program. In addition, Windows 7 WMC supports four tuners instead of just two. That will make it possible (with the additional hardware) to record more shows at the same time. This was a problem for us with our Vista Media Center, when three of our favorite programs were lined up against one another in the same timeslot.
There’s much more to like about Windows 7 WMC, as many computer users will be discovering upon its release.
- Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP (Enterprise Security)
deb@shinder.net www.debshinder.net
bluetooth tastatur on September 16, 2009 at 11:14 PM
This looks great, but its just more of MS giving us technology that no one wants or needs. I will never stand up and get my greasy fingers on my 46" LCD. That's insane. And as for smaller screens elsewhere in the house, why would i have a media center in my kitchen? Why am I watching tv while warming up spaghetti? This is totally niche and totally a waste of R&D while the company's OS goes down in flames.
Get a Grip on September 22, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Dude, get a stinking grip. The OS is better than ever and I and others LOVE Media Center and its capabilities.
Why would you put your "greasy fingers" on your LCD, even with WMC, do you even understand what WMC is designed to be used for?
You're the only one who even mentioned putting a media center in your kitchen. WTH are you ranting about? Don't worry, nobody is going to force you to watch anything while you (or mom) heats up your spaghetti o's.
You're taking irrational hate to a new level. Use something else and smile to yourself in your perceived superiority. You'll show all of us!
Barc on September 30, 2009 at 04:25 PM
Deb, your W7Newsletter mentions a new tuner, but it's a PCI-E card. Are boards now coming out with only PCI-E slots? Most boards that I've seen only have one, with the rest being PCI. You've mentioned putting in up to four tuner cards. How will those all install?
Chaps on October 05, 2009 at 11:27 PM
for the same reason as anyone puts a TV in there, to watch TV while cooking. Also you can store recipes there plus get new ones from the internet..
I believe Windows Media Center will take off even more with Windows 7. Here in Australia, the penetrations is really low... The lack of a guide has always held it back. not that the OTA guide is available in Windows 7 (despite some TV station's best efforts), it makes for a more seamless integration.
Now that the Tivo (in Australia) is going to be limited even more (and introducing a subscription fee) I think there is a great opportunity from October 22.
OnTheFence on November 19, 2009 at 12:30 PM
They fixed a lot of things in Media Center for Win7, but they also trashed some things too. I like what they fixed, but the stuff they broke is just about ready to push me back to Vista. I mean, have you even tried to fast forward or rewind? It skips around and freezes. Useless.
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