Windows 8 Media Center Will Be An Add-On - Page 4

My guess on all this is that MC will move in line to be the same software for media playback that is on XBOX. I figure that'll be worth paying for, especially if it supports kinnect/Bing. It wouldn't surprise me at all that MS finally got its act together for consistency across products. Although, I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't either - lol.

Yes, MS announced that there will be 3 in their official press release, but the RT version is for ARM tablets only, not for consumers. We won`t be able to buy that.

take this for what its worth, but I just attended a demo session Microsoft held at my corporate headquarters. basically they had a bunch of new stuff to test out.

i found the lone guy there that was familiar with WMC (he uses an HDHR Prime for tv) and he was surprised and uncertain when I said the Windows blog said WMC will be Win Pro only. like I said, fwiw.

It simply means decisions are made from those above his pay grade. It's purely a business decision. Most ppl, even those develop it, have no say in it.

Yeah, I was thinking it likely had something to do w/ RDP & hopes for softsled, but that would only be for the Wmc server & not for the clients (at least on the current Windows line).

I also hope that the media pack can be ran on Server 8 especially if we do get softsled(I'd like to do away w/ VMs on my server.

If the speculation is true (and anything can change before final release), they're significantly raising the price of admission to use WMC. The Pro version of W8 + an expansion pack on top of that? No thanks. I bet that significantly fewer people will use W8MC than W7MC, and then they'll use that as evidence as to why they should discontinue it.

And I bet, like W7MC, they still haven't fixed the bug with bitstreaming DD from ATSC live TV unless you either set the speaker config to stereo or disable navigation sounds.

I believe there will also be a Enterprise edition.

Anyone know if the ARM version of windows 8 will be limited in any way, and if it will be able to run Media Center?

edit: I see the post above me says it's only for tablets.. I guess it answered my question

While the ARM edition won't be available on the shelf, you also cannot really get a ARM PC of the shelf, now can you?

Eventually, it'll be available in Laptops, and possibly even smart-TVs that come with a PC integrated.

However, the ARM version of Windows 8 does not even have Windows Media Player, so it won't have Windows Media Center either.
There will of course be other media-centric apps, third party if need be.

IMO, maybe MS removed WMC from Windows 8 to give an advantage to companies that want to embed WMC, like Ceton's Q, and the recently announced Delta DVR (not sure if it's cable card capable EDIT: It is!). It's possible MS would like to tackle the Tivo market, and decided the best way to this would be to support companies like Ceton, without undermining them too much by including WMC to general consumers. By offering it as a download in the Pro version, they can still cater to enthusiasts who will build their own htpc.

Also, I'm going to take a guess and say Windows 8 will be cheaper overall then Windows 7. They want to make money via their app store, like Apple and Google.

It will not be cheaper for sure. And they aren't gonna see $$$ in app store either because:
1. Mac App store so far has proven to be a burst. Don't confuse that with iOS app store.
2. There is still a desktop mode so you can side load non-metro apps easily. Further limit the usefulness of metro app store (only for metro apps).

MS's store will be same for both tablet and PC. This alone should help it. Plus with the Metro interface, it will be front and center on all new Windows 8 PCs and Tablets until the user figures out how to rearrange tiles.

Because if theres one thing businesses want to be able to do is set up their office computers as an HTPC. Something tells me the Pro team is the only one that even knew what WMC was and thats the only reason why you need Pro to use it, the Home team probably forgot all about WMC and didnt do the paper work to include it. Microsoft's left hand has NEVER known what its right hand was doing, its a bloated bureaucratic company with no common sense.

Remember Pro is for business, Home is for home, obviously a HOME theater personal computer is for business.


I doubt you were talking to an engineer, you were probably talking to a salesperson, in all likely hood they didnt even work for Microsoft and were from a marketing company hired by MS to speak on their behalf

I don't understand why anyone using 8 as a desktop or non touch screen laptop would be interested in Metro apps. I know Microsoft is pushing it but it just doesn't make any sense to me when desktop programs do everything you need and won't be "crippled" like Metro apps. Navigating Metro apps with a keyboard and mouse also feels weird.

Have you tried to use the Microsoft App store. When it first came out, it was archaic, in that you could not find much in it easily. It is easier to get stuff from dataviz & amazon, than Microsoft's so called storefront.

Fixed it for you.

Because the majority have grown up with the desktop gui, or finally got used to it, if they did not use Windows from the get go. I remember when Windows became mainstream finally with Windows 95. People were refusing to switch from Dos to Windows 98, because they were used to booting into Dos and doing stuff that way, than being restricted to only doing stuff in the Gui. Then when XP came out, they threw tantrums like a 3 year old, because they hated the change, even though it really cleaned up how the gui behaved and looked.

Now they are really going to be throwing a fit again, because the majority really does not want to deal with the metro interface, and would rather have it as a option. Microsoft needs to learn if they are going to make a change, allow the user to decide what gui or interface they want, just like how it is done with Linux. Even when Apple came out with OS-X, you could still use OS-9, until they phased it out.

Don't forget windows 3.1 before windows 95

I left it out, due to really was not used mainstream by a lot, due to it was not until Windows 95, that you started to see retailers start pushing PC's. Even when the Commodore offered the gui as an alternative to the dos interface, not a whole lot went that route, they stayed in the dos interface. I am one of those that grew up with the dos interface and the original Basic programming language.

As for WMC, I never really got into it, even when I was working for one of the marketing companies for Microsoft, due to our regional manager was more into pushing the 360, vs. the whole package of using WMC with the 360. Even Microsoft is not into pushing WMC. Remember when 7 came out? They marketed more of a sharing solution, but never really told people that it would only work with specific hardware, for sharing from a laptop to a tv without having the 360 as a bridge between the two devices.

Microsoft has become more of "Here is our software, but we really are not going to show you the big picture of how to utilize it better, even though it is really robust." They just forget that there is another user group out there that is into entertainment and media, just as large of a group as the business consumer side.

I even tried to get my son to utilize WMC with his 360, but he really never liked the two together, so he mainly just used the 360. Now of course since the 360 has died, he is going to change gears and go with a PS3, which will be good, since he will now have a BD and be able to interface it and the Sony BD together.

Microsoft announces Q3 2012 earnings: $17.41 billion in revenue, $6.37 billion income


Also found this interesting (both articles from engadget)

Tablet PC, even the one running ARM chip, will have desktop mode to side apps. That's why Mac app store failed. With iOS, unless you jail break your iphone, you can't side load anything.

I'm expecting Windows 9 to totally ditch desktop mode and close this 'loop hole' of side loading apps.

New Visual Studio 2011 alreay allows you to compile your existing PC software into ARM CPU instruction set. So, I'd expect to see a lot of current desktop software get re-compiled into ARM compatible code to be able to side load on the the Windows RT.

After all, this is what everyone is so excited about Windows 8 tablet, to be able to use wide veriaty of existing software on it, rather than to purchase new specially made, often quite functionally limited, tablet software (metro app).

It is not a surprise their division which makes most of its money selling XBoxs would not be making as much money as they did in the past - they are reaching market saturation. Most people who want one already have one...now it is just stragglers buying.

Same thing happened to the Wii.

That's not what they announced so far. ARM tablets will only be able to run Office (and of course things like Windows Explorer, etc.) on the desktop mode. Maybe that'll change, but up until now that's the official line.

I highly doubt it. You can't get any real work done in a Metro OS and businesses would never stand for a crippled tablet interface on their desktop workstations.

Only 6% of us the installed base actually use media center, but that is a hell of an installed base pushing well over 15 million. But still seems like Microsoft is going on the outs for much more upgrades to media center.

Their money is behind the Xbox as that device. Microsoft doesnt make money on people ripping and storing their own content. But they do on streaming on the Xbox...

As an owner who has both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 (slim), I hate MS's console more for a number of reasons:
1) I don't think I should have to pay a subscription to use features like Netflix. I'm sure there is a lot more things they block, but that's the main one of the top of my head.
2) Their stupid MS Points system. If I see something that cost 90 points I don't want to have to figure out some stupid conversion rate. At least Sony does it right, they tell you cost in actual real world currency.

I don't really game, and for that reason I won't be buying a subscription regardless of what features it has locked away. Sorry, I just felt like bashing MS for (IMO) their stupid ways of doing things. They won't be making any money from me

What they mean is there is no simulator to let you run current x86 apps. You can, however, still run desktop apps re-compiled into ARM instruction set (which is now available through new VisualStudio 2011). When we will see those apps is another question.


That's how every one said back when Windows first appeared: We need DOS to get real work done.

Almost all the audio and video streaming apps require Gold memebership. It doesn't bother me that much because in my setup, I have both BD player and TV iteself support Netflix player. I rarely ever use the Netflix player on Xbox, especially with the new interface.


Point system is going away this year.

I hope you're right, and I initially thought they'd be doing the same thing, but that's not what Microsoft has said so far.

I'd like to think that Microsoft will also be fixing the stupid limitation in the Zune/Xbox Live/Windows Phone service account whereby you can never change your country of residence. But I don't hold out much hope.

This limitation means that Microsoft is breaking EU law. See www.itisourdata.com