Get windows media center for xp update#

Get windows media center for xp update#

In February 2003, I received my first beta hardware with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 (code-named 'Harmony'), an evolutionary update to the original XP MCE release that addresses key customer issues and adds compelling new features. And as it's changed our TV viewing habits dramatically, we've come to a consensus: We're not giving it up. But there's another side to XP MCE, and it needs to be told: Despite the inexplicable glitches and the occasional crashes, my family has come to rely on the HP MCPC. The problems are outlined in my review of XP MCE, but they essentially boil down to the pros and cons of using a standard Windows-based PC as a consumer electronics appliance: As stable as the underlying OS is, there're just so many things that can go wrong in a PC. Starting in mid-2002, a Hewlett-Packard (HP) Media Center PC (MCPC) has been at the heart of my family's entertainment system, and we've spent the time since locked in a love-hate relationship with this device. It's been over eighteen months since my first experience with Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE), the first version of which was code-named 'Freestyle'. Me and my Media Centerįirst, let's put this release in perspective. So buckle up, digital media fans, it's going to be a long but rewarding ride.

In this review, I'll examine the new software release, its myriad new features, and the various other supporting technologies that are becoming available now to Media Center owners for the first time.

Several months in the making, and several beta machines later, I'm still surprised that the company didn't do anything throughout 2003 to build excitement for the new version, which ships Septemwith a variety of new and modified Media Center PCs from a number of PC makers, including notable new additions Sony and Dell. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 is one of the stealthiest major software releases Microsoft has ever released.