Microsoft begins shooting itself in the foot...Again.

[Wesley]

So, I heard recently that they're cutting out DVD Play in Windows 8 and only including it as an extra purchase through the Windows Store when the OS goes golden. HTPC owners are already shaking their heads. I'm quite sure I remember how this all plays out, and its not good for Microsoft or their reputation.

Linky

[Toxxyc]

Oh great. That's got to be the final nail in the WMP coffin. It's got a **** UI and without native DVD support (I mean really, that's like saying "hey, we're making a new streetcar but it cannot drive on roads, you have to buy the road kit for that") there's absolutely no reason why anyone in his/her right mind would ever consider WMP again as their media player of choice. Me? I'm a Media Player Classic guy. Always loved it, always will. Keyboard shortcuts are secure and solid, easy to get and remember and the player doesn't scan your entire HDD for new media every time you move the mouse like WMP does.

Hate WMP.

[Wesley]

As an aside, this is actually related to Windows Media Center, although WMP would also have the codecs cut out completely. As it is, default versions of Windows 7 still require codecs to be downloaded when WMP starts up with a DVD in the bay.

[Toxxyc]

Hmm. I don't really care about those codecs, to be perfectly honest. In the ~18 months I've had 7 installed, I've not once opened up WMP. I'm pretty sure I'm still sitting with the default WMP that came with 7. Same with IE. K-Lite's Mega Codec Pack has EVERYTHING you'll ever need and more. Together with MPCHC. Pure gold.

[Wesley]

This is one of those situations where open-source options, especially Linux, start to make sense for a lot of people.

[Toxxyc]

Yeah the only issue is gaming. Let's face it - if you've got a gaming rig, you really do want Windows. Though I see no need to upgrade to 8. 7 sports DX11 (which has hardly been scratched by recent games), so it's still got a loooooong life ahead of itself. I'm seeing 7 as the XP of old, with 8 being the new Vista if MS continues like this. Pretty sad, really. 8 would look damn epic for a cool HTPC setup.

As would 7 with an 8 skin.

[Wesley]

Steam's still coming to Linux, don't forget. I may change back over in the coming years :-)

[Azraphael]

Best solution I have discovered, Mac Mini (second gen, new one coming soon) with XBMC connected to my lan and streaming everything from my windows desktop in my room. All decoding is done in the buffering stage and I have yet to find a format it can't play. I have messed around with most of these programs and XBMC seems to be the most complete package. TVersity is also pretty good, as long as it is kept up to date. I only used Media Centre when I first wanted to stream to my Xbox, but the lack of format support just ****ed me off.

O/T I will wait until Win 8 is released in it's entirety before knocking this. If this is perhaps a way to drop the price of the OS, especially for volume licenses then it could work. Remember, the majority of people are not tech-savvy, they don't have an HTPC, they have a DVD/Blu Ray player in the lounge, which is where they do their watching, their computer is for working, browsing and emailing. The rest of us who like to tinker and do all the "cool ****" will be the most hit by this, and as a result will be the most vocal about it. Your average user is not gonna give two ****s over functionality that they never use. Most of your heavy digital library users will be running open source programs for the majority of their needs, and your high end users don't even use a HTPC, they integrate Blu-Ray servers like these bad boys.

[Wesley]

Hmmm, you have a point. Still not moving though, Metro is too jarring for me ATM. How much fiddling did XMBC take to set up? I seem to remember you had an Xbox, does it also work for that?

[Azraphael]

I have to be honest, XBMC is super slick and sexy. The fact that the Mac Mini has a tiny bluetooth keyboard, and XBMC is keyboard driven makes it quite an attractive option, and apparently, is also compatible with the Mac wireless track-pad . Because it is open source, the plugins and skins are endless. To setup took a bit of fiddling, no more so than TVersity, although I did first install on my laptop ( Windows 7) and it found the files across the network pretty quickly. You will need to sit with it for an hour or two to configure everything nicely, and in a way that you are happy with. One of the minor things I like about it is the fact that when you add a location, you have the option to name it whatever you want so if you are dragging from multiple sources. it's easy to differentiate them from each other. I have only had it crash once, and that was more an issue with my desktop than XBMC. Another very cool function is the local feeds, if you are connected to the internet you can setup weather reports and news feeds that scroll at the bottom of the player. Very handy for when you haven't moved from the couch in 2 days ;)

XBMC was initially developed to convert the original Xbox into a media device, and apparently there are still guys who have hacked their old consoles to run it, but I have had no need to as I'm running to the Mini.

[CyniKill]

I also use XBMC. That, along with my laptop's HDMI port and our 50" HDTV make watching movies and series much more enjoyable than when I simply used a video player.

[ayefinch]

/hijack on
Quick question for the XBMC blokes. I am running XBMC on my PC and it works fantastic. If I try to run XBMC on my laptop, a MSI CR640, I need to put the machine into Sleep Mode and wake it up before XBMC will start... Once it runs it works great. I just can't figure out why I need to put the machine into Sleep Mode and wake it to get XBMC to work.... Any ideas on how to fix this???

/hijack off