Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Windows XP Media Center Edition reviewed
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 09:00 AM
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_mediacenter.asp
Paul Thurrot, the guy who gets to try everything Microsoft before anyone else, has written a great review of the Windows XP Media Center Edition PC. I had a chance to get some hands-on time with one at the recent Mobius event, and I was really impressed - Microsoft seems to have put a lot of effort into the concept, and the interface was slick and fast. What's that you say? A full-screen interface from Microsoft that's fast? Yup. Apparently it's a DirectX engine, and it was so fluid I thought it was built from Flash.
I told the Program Manager who was demoing it that I thought they should use that engine for all the GUI elements in XP - we need something as slick as the Quartz engine on the Mac. :D Even on a powerful PC, the graphics engine on XP still gets bogged down and requires a ridiculous amount of CPU resources for the most basic screen draws. This is one of those things that seems to be low on the list of future improvements because it doesn't add to the "bottom line" like other XP features do.
I nearly hugged the product manager when he told me that not only would the Media Center be able to control a digital cable box, but it's smart programming features would work in Canada. What? CANADA? Hooray! :lol: It's a beautiful thing people - let's say you like watching a certain series. Two taps of a button, and it tags the entire series for recording, ensuring that you'll never miss out again. It took us until 2002 to get something this simple? Yeah, I know Tivo can do this, but they don't offer service to Canadians. Grr. :evil: At any rate, I was extremely impressed with the speed and simplicity of the entire system. I'm considering purchasing one when they come out, even though I don't really need another PC right now - the abilities this box offers are truly impressive.
Right now the Media Center will be sold only with new PCs - HP is the biggest vendor offering a solution, but others will come on board in early 2003. There's been a lot of complaining from the power users about this, because they have the power PCs but need the software to pull it off. I think Microsoft is doing the smart thing by controlling the platform tightly - it makes working out the bugs and improving the product much easier when you know the hardware people are using (shades of Apple anyone?).
And now that Microsoft has opted to allow copying of the content, this whole scenario gets a lot sweeter - I'd love to burn a DVD with a few TV shows and watch them away from home.
Here's a blurb from Thurrot's article:
"So what is XP MCE? Essentially, it's Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) with an additional application, Media Center, and related supporting services. XP MCE runs only on media center PCs, which include modern processors, fast video cards, FireWire connectivity for attaching a DV camera, a TV tuner card for interacting with a cable or satellite signal, and, optionally, other multimedia features, including a DVD writer, surround sound speakers, and front-panel access to the types of memory cards used by most digital cameras. This year, only Hewlett-Packard will be shipping media center PCs in the US, and I'll be reviewing the final hardware here on the SuperSite in early November; this review focuses solely on the software. But other companies, such as Samsung, are marketing media center PCs in other locales, and Microsoft will announce new partners and markets for XP MCE in 2003."
Paul Thurrot, the guy who gets to try everything Microsoft before anyone else, has written a great review of the Windows XP Media Center Edition PC. I had a chance to get some hands-on time with one at the recent Mobius event, and I was really impressed - Microsoft seems to have put a lot of effort into the concept, and the interface was slick and fast. What's that you say? A full-screen interface from Microsoft that's fast? Yup. Apparently it's a DirectX engine, and it was so fluid I thought it was built from Flash.
I told the Program Manager who was demoing it that I thought they should use that engine for all the GUI elements in XP - we need something as slick as the Quartz engine on the Mac. :D Even on a powerful PC, the graphics engine on XP still gets bogged down and requires a ridiculous amount of CPU resources for the most basic screen draws. This is one of those things that seems to be low on the list of future improvements because it doesn't add to the "bottom line" like other XP features do.
I nearly hugged the product manager when he told me that not only would the Media Center be able to control a digital cable box, but it's smart programming features would work in Canada. What? CANADA? Hooray! :lol: It's a beautiful thing people - let's say you like watching a certain series. Two taps of a button, and it tags the entire series for recording, ensuring that you'll never miss out again. It took us until 2002 to get something this simple? Yeah, I know Tivo can do this, but they don't offer service to Canadians. Grr. :evil: At any rate, I was extremely impressed with the speed and simplicity of the entire system. I'm considering purchasing one when they come out, even though I don't really need another PC right now - the abilities this box offers are truly impressive.
Right now the Media Center will be sold only with new PCs - HP is the biggest vendor offering a solution, but others will come on board in early 2003. There's been a lot of complaining from the power users about this, because they have the power PCs but need the software to pull it off. I think Microsoft is doing the smart thing by controlling the platform tightly - it makes working out the bugs and improving the product much easier when you know the hardware people are using (shades of Apple anyone?).
And now that Microsoft has opted to allow copying of the content, this whole scenario gets a lot sweeter - I'd love to burn a DVD with a few TV shows and watch them away from home.
Here's a blurb from Thurrot's article:
"So what is XP MCE? Essentially, it's Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) with an additional application, Media Center, and related supporting services. XP MCE runs only on media center PCs, which include modern processors, fast video cards, FireWire connectivity for attaching a DV camera, a TV tuner card for interacting with a cable or satellite signal, and, optionally, other multimedia features, including a DVD writer, surround sound speakers, and front-panel access to the types of memory cards used by most digital cameras. This year, only Hewlett-Packard will be shipping media center PCs in the US, and I'll be reviewing the final hardware here on the SuperSite in early November; this review focuses solely on the software. But other companies, such as Samsung, are marketing media center PCs in other locales, and Microsoft will announce new partners and markets for XP MCE in 2003."
