XP Media Center Edition 2005: The forgotten MCE
I can’t help but be slightly annoyed that the copy of MCE 2005 I bought two years ago has been completely dropped by Microsoft. I get it – MS wants people to buy Vista or Windows7. If my version of MCE had the same features as Windows7 MCE I’d have no reason to upgrade. For the most part I use my copy of MCE to record TV in SD and to stream online content. When I heard that Netflix was going to be integrated into MCE I thought that actually sounded pretty cool. Any chance to use the MCE remote over a mouse and keyboard is a good thing, right? No such luck for me. There were a few projects to get Netflix working inside of MCE 2005, but they are pretty much dead now (in addition to most other development for MCE 2005). It’s a shame, really. My HTPC isn’t my primary computer and I really could care less whether MCE is running on top of XP, 7, or Windows 95 for that matter, but alas, here I am stuck with the prospect of shelling out another $100 for another copy of Windows7 just so I can record/stream TV.
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