After almost ten months of testing, reinstallations and general playing around, it’s finally time to get that retail version of Windows 7 installed and start enjoying everything that Microsoft has brought to the table in 7MC. We’ve already posted about why you should bite that bullet and upgrade and for this week’s show we discuss not only the new features of 7MC but some of our favorites as well.
To celebrate the release of Windows 7, not only were we joined by Show Analyzer creator, Jere Jones, but it was our first live show in a long time. Thanks to the folks that were able to join us and we hope you come back! As of now we’ll be broadcasting on Ustream every Wednesday at 8PM Eastern. You can go to the Entertainment 2.0 page here on The DMZ to listen.
Also, to add to the celebration, we were able to give away what we called our “Windows 7 Media Center Starter Pack”. This included:
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Provided by Dragon Global)
- Show Analyzer (Provided by Dragon Global)
- My Movies 3 (Provided by Brian Binnerup)
Congratulations to Mike, who was listening live, on winning the prize pack!
We had a ton of emails and comments to review this week and we appreciate everyone who takes the time to write. You help make the show. This week we’re asking for comments about what your favorite Windows 7 feature is. We’ll share them next week.
Don’t forget to give us a call and leave us a message as well. Just dial 1-877-856-4933 and leave us a message. We like getting our listeners on the show so keep them coming!
Show Notes:
- MKV to WTV with ToDVR-MS (thanks Ogre!)
- Voicemail
- Comments and Email
- New Windows 7 features
- Our favorite Windows 7 features
Click here to download Episode 50!
Entertainment 2.0 is sponsored by Dragon Global. We thank them for their support!
| Entertainment 2.0 Subscriptions | ||
 |
 |
 |
Hi guys,
I just wanted to put my two ören (swedish cents) in about the windows 7 hardware compatibility. I use a HTPC with a on-board Intel G45 chipset. This is working like a charm in XP with audio out through HDMI. But in 7 the Intel drivers are horrible. Video acceleration is not working as it should, live TV crashes WMC to desktop, a fall forward from the last drivers that would bring up that nicely blue-shaded-full-screen-windows-promotion artwork. I hope Intel will resolve this soon because I am getting pretty tired of waiting..
On another note, I've run MediaPortal for years, and it can definitely look as nice as WMC. Another great feature is that you can run the TV-server on another box, like your Home Server (not officially supported though) and then connect your clients to that master server. It is nowhere near WMC for hardware support though.
Lastly I'd like to ask you a question: I have the HTPC on XP Home, the fiance's laptop on Vista Home and my office computer is running 7 RC but I have a XP Pro license for it. If I buy the 3-user DVD upgrade of 7 will that work for all of them?
Man I wish MS would make like Apple and release 1 version of the OS, preferably for $39 🙂
Thanks again for a great job with the show
zeeke
thanks for not forgetting internet streaming in the features. I was screaming at the screen not to forget it. As an avid user of orb before this is so far the greatest feature I have been using.
also as a side note, for watching “football” espn 360 is great. I have it at both home and work and it is great to catch a match or two in the afternoons. As far as I can tell it is all the recordings they have access to that are shown wherever originally.
Hey guys,
Starting to follow your show – it's fun to hear from guys who enjoy the fun (and bear the pain) of setting up Media Center.
You just talked about a question on Show 50 that is interesting to me regarding using PCs (rather then Extenders) to stream live TV over LAN. I understand there is currently no Media Center solution. But is this what Webguide is supposed to be for? I have never used it but its documentation says that it has some limitations: (i) it's available for Vista but not Windows 7 and (ii) it has no 10ft interface as it is run inside a browser. Any experience with Webguide for this purpose?
Slingbox is also a pretty well-established solution for streaming live TV to a PC. Works great over LAN, including wireless. Not having the MC interface is again a downside but it does have an iPhone streaming app, which I haven't tried, and it is probably easier than any other solution for streaming remotely over the internet.
@Brad – both good solutions for some. Personally, I could never get Orb to be stable, it seems to stop working every now and again for no reason. ESPN360 is great but, unfortunately for me, not available overseas.
Got one more question for you: any advice/experience with setting up Hauppauge HD PVR in Windows 7? I am thinking mostly about ease of setup and stability. Even if I can't stream live TV, having the W7MC as set-top PVR (my cable company does not offer any PVR service) and sharing recorded shows across LAN would be pretty nice features to have IF the setup is stable.
Keep up the good work on the show.
Cheers, Joe.
Hey guys,
Starting to follow your show – it's fun to hear from guys who enjoy the fun (and bear the pain) of setting up Media Center.
You just talked about a question on Show 50 that is interesting to me regarding using PCs (rather then Extenders) to stream live TV over LAN. I understand there is currently no Media Center solution. But is this what Webguide is supposed to be for? I have never used it but its documentation says that it has some limitations: (i) it's available for Vista but not Windows 7 and (ii) it has no 10ft interface as it is run inside a browser. Any experience with Webguide for this purpose?
Slingbox is also a pretty well-established solution for streaming live TV to a PC. Works great over LAN, including wireless. Not having the MC interface is again a downside but it does have an iPhone streaming app, which I haven't tried, and it is probably easier than any other solution for streaming remotely over the internet.
@Brad – both good solutions for some. Personally, I could never get Orb to be stable, it seems to stop working every now and again for no reason. ESPN360 is great but, unfortunately for me, not available overseas.
Got one more question for you: any advice/experience with setting up Hauppauge HD PVR in Windows 7? I am thinking mostly about ease of setup and stability. Even if I can't stream live TV, having the W7MC as set-top PVR (my cable company does not offer any PVR service) and sharing recorded shows across LAN would be pretty nice features to have IF the setup is stable.
Keep up the good work on the show.
Cheers, Joe.
[…] Jones has been on Entertainment 2.0 episodes 25, 50, 75, and 100, and we’re nearing episode 125. Perhaps we’ll have to continue the […]