Despite rumours that Windows Media Center would be omitted from the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 it’s alive and kicking in the Windows 8 download so I thought I would take a look and see if anything has changed. I know some people where expecting lots of changes to the Windows 8 version but unfortunately it looks identical to the Windows 7 version.
There were rumours that Windows 8 wound’t have all the codecs needed for TV playback but I had no problems playing a Freeview HD recorded TV file, streaming from my main Media Center using HomeGroup so its good to see media sharing and HomeGroup still working. I have had lots of question whether it supports any new video formats and it looks like that isn’t the case, MKV files will not play without adding 3rd party software. I also tried Bluray playback and as with Windows 7 that will not work without extra software.
Other areas of Media Center look and work exactly the same as the Windows 7 version so I don’t think you are going to loose any Media Center functionality by upgrading to Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
Under the hood there do seem to be some changes, its now based on version 4 of the .net framework where as the previous version was based on .net v2. This may effect some 3rd party addins which may need recompiling with the latest version of the development tools. I tested a couple of 3rd party addins and they worked ok but it’s likely that some of the more advance addins like Remote Potato may not work.
So overall Windows Media Center is there and it works fine, I don’t see any changes from the Windows 7 version which is fine but I think we can officially class Media Center as a legacy product.
23 thoughts on “A look at Windows Media Center in Windows 8”
don’t assume legacy just yet
perhaps a bit hopefuly but could be they just stuck in the old version to the state of functional, get the basics working right before they worrying about new features and so forth or just adjustments/fix’s.
Could be its in there as it is now just because they got fedup of all the whining about “is it going to be in win 8” 😀
so the project manager said “shut these sods up and get something media centre out, get it functional”
I’ve downloaded the iso but not installed it yet – Is there any media playback functionality in Metro at the moment?
Given how Media Center like some of the Metro screenshots look from yesterday’s presentation (For example: The Kindle and Flixster Apps) I would hope that Media Player, Media Center and Zune just become part of Metro and that the recording scheduler is appropriately integrated. Third party Media Center apps would need to be implemented as Metro apps obviously but that gives them a wider audience 😉
hi I was thinking just that question. the main ones are media portal, myth, next pvr, sage, and loads that are made by tuner companies.
they all have much better format support (mkv etc) but are all more complicated to set-up. sage has been closed to new customers as google have bought it. media portal does not have slim clients but xbmc support may come eventually(it seems to be in beta-ish) myth is mainly linux. Next pvr looks interesting as you can use a popcorn hour as an extender and PCH can play back blueray file structures etc.
Dvblink isn’t working either, the drivers and win32 app work well, but the ‘extras’ app isn’t there to sync the channels, and when adding the tuners to mce, it doesn’t find any channels listed.
Ian, did you install it on your old TouchSmart – how is the touch side of things working. I have it installed on a ToucSmart TX2 and although the touch screen can sense my touch and do pinch to zoom when I press on an icon to launch an app nothing happens. I can swipe the charm bar out but none of the icons respond. Tapping with the stylus does work! Have you had anything like this. It was the same on the Developer preview and I was hoping it might have been fixed.
The Metro interface is pretty much setup to replace Windows Media Centre. My Movies, Media Browser etc… which are stand alone anyway… simply need tiles in the metro interface so you can watch your series and movies direct from there and you get access to Facebook, Youtube etc, without needing Media Centre specifc apps. The only reason 8MC is still kicking around is because Microsoft haven’t got round to building a live PVR app yet – or they may be expecting partners to do it!
It appears the addin fails during the windows install
if you open an administrator cmd prompt in windows 8 ( right click on the windows start logo, select ‘Command Prompt (Admin)’
then type the following to register the addin in windows 8 Media Center
CD\windows\ehome (press return on Keyboard) registermceapp c:\progra~2\dvblogic\dvblink\dvblink_addin.xml (press return on keyboard)
you should see it say ‘success’ and the addin will now be installed as normal in media center under extras and works for me.
Has anyone determined if the Windows 8 Media Center will be able to take advance of the auto-mount .iso features of Windows 8 and play .iso files directly now?
What do you mean WMC “works fine”? It doesn’t play back Blu-Ray or MKV so it’s pretty useless for many of the things people want to do on their PCs. That coupled with the unintuitive GUI of both WMC and now Windows 8 shows that Microsoft are loosing the plot. Touch interface – but all the power is in keyboard shorttcuts! Ha Ha!
What I say, it does work as it did in Windows 7. If you want Bluray you need a 3rd party program like Cyberlink. For mkv you can install a codec.
What I am pointing out is that it works as it did in 7 not that there is anything new.
I really like Windows 8 and the UI, I spend a lot of the time on my Mac and love it but I prefer the Windows 8 UI
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don’t assume legacy just yet
perhaps a bit hopefuly but could be they just stuck in the old version to the state of functional, get the basics working right before they worrying about new features and so forth or just adjustments/fix’s.
Could be its in there as it is now just because they got fedup of all the whining about “is it going to be in win 8” 😀
so the project manager said “shut these sods up and get something media centre out, get it functional”
a man can dream
It’s legacy.
I’m downloading the Windows 8 CP ISO now, will install on to my older HTPC using a spare HDD and test it out.
No real surprises that’s its just the same as the Windows 7 version except the .Net changes.
I would like to see a Media Center icon in the new Metro UI but apparently there isn’t one and Media Center is buried away.
For those holding out hope that MC will get revamped for the final Windows 8 release I wouldn’t count on it.
I’ve downloaded the iso but not installed it yet – Is there any media playback functionality in Metro at the moment?
Given how Media Center like some of the Metro screenshots look from yesterday’s presentation (For example: The Kindle and Flixster Apps) I would hope that Media Player, Media Center and Zune just become part of Metro and that the recording scheduler is appropriately integrated. Third party Media Center apps would need to be implemented as Metro apps obviously but that gives them a wider audience 😉
There is a music player app but I can’t sign in it’s US, Japan and Germany only
So if Media Centre is legacy is there a good alternative?
Most of the other things that get hyped whilst supporting movie and music libraries don’t support live TV.
I know we might not have to worry about this just yet but I’d be interested in thoughts.
I think there is no better alternative which is why it’s a shame it’s no longer being developed.
hi I was thinking just that question. the main ones are media portal, myth, next pvr, sage, and loads that are made by tuner companies.
they all have much better format support (mkv etc) but are all more complicated to set-up. sage has been closed to new customers as google have bought it. media portal does not have slim clients but xbmc support may come eventually(it seems to be in beta-ish) myth is mainly linux. Next pvr looks interesting as you can use a popcorn hour as an extender and PCH can play back blueray file structures etc.
I can’t play any netflix movies or tv shows inside mce in win 8, it says, can’t play drm files and it also says my date is wrong, but it’s not.
Dvblink isn’t working either, the drivers and win32 app work well, but the ‘extras’ app isn’t there to sync the channels, and when adding the tuners to mce, it doesn’t find any channels listed.
🙁
I think DVBLogic would have to rebuild it with .net 4.0
The problem is that the place where the Extra Libary items are inside the Register are now different.
Windows 7:
HKEY_USERS\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Media Center\Extensibility\Categories\More Programs
Windows 8:
???
Ian, did you install it on your old TouchSmart – how is the touch side of things working. I have it installed on a ToucSmart TX2 and although the touch screen can sense my touch and do pinch to zoom when I press on an icon to launch an app nothing happens. I can swipe the charm bar out but none of the icons respond. Tapping with the stylus does work! Have you had anything like this. It was the same on the Developer preview and I was hoping it might have been fixed.
not done my touchsmart yet, just my Tablet PC. Sounds like the touch drivers are not working
The Metro interface is pretty much setup to replace Windows Media Centre. My Movies, Media Browser etc… which are stand alone anyway… simply need tiles in the metro interface so you can watch your series and movies direct from there and you get access to Facebook, Youtube etc, without needing Media Centre specifc apps. The only reason 8MC is still kicking around is because Microsoft haven’t got round to building a live PVR app yet – or they may be expecting partners to do it!
It appears the addin fails during the windows install
if you open an administrator cmd prompt in windows 8 ( right click on the windows start logo, select ‘Command Prompt (Admin)’
then type the following to register the addin in windows 8 Media Center
CD\windows\ehome (press return on Keyboard)
registermceapp c:\progra~2\dvblogic\dvblink\dvblink_addin.xml (press return on keyboard)
you should see it say ‘success’ and the addin will now be installed as normal in media center under extras and works for me.
Hope this helps
I wonder if I do an upgrade install if my DRM TV recordings will continue to play? I would hope that I would not loose everything by upgrading ….
I bet they will not play
In this thread at AVForums, there is a spreadsheet with a comparison of Media Center type applications:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-entertainment-pcs/1572299-htpc-software-comparison.html
Ian, Did you try it using an Xbox as an Extender? I assume it would all work as it did before.
Has anyone determined if the Windows 8 Media Center will be able to take advance of the auto-mount .iso features of Windows 8 and play .iso files directly now?
Thanks.
What do you mean WMC “works fine”? It doesn’t play back Blu-Ray or MKV so it’s pretty useless for many of the things people want to do on their PCs. That coupled with the unintuitive GUI of both WMC and now Windows 8 shows that Microsoft are loosing the plot. Touch interface – but all the power is in keyboard shorttcuts! Ha Ha!
What I say, it does work as it did in Windows 7. If you want Bluray you need a 3rd party program like Cyberlink. For mkv you can install a codec.
What I am pointing out is that it works as it did in 7 not that there is anything new.
I really like Windows 8 and the UI, I spend a lot of the time on my Mac and love it but I prefer the Windows 8 UI