Charlie Owen - Windows Media Center Available via Retail Channel

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Windows Media Center Available via Retail Channel

For years we've heard folks cry out for Windows Media Center to be available for purchase at retail outlets (think Frys, Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon, etc).

I've seen a number of blog posts (Thomas, Chris and Ed to name a few) about our announcement today regarding the Windows Vista product lineup, but no mention yet of this sentence buried in the press release:

"Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate and Business will be available as a full-packaged product at retail and on new PCs."

To interpret: Windows Media Center is coming to a store shelf near you in three ways with Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate: shrink wrap software, a system builder bundle or a preconfigured OEM machine.

Let the rejoicing commence in the DIY and upgrade crowd!

Categories: Media Center | Windows Vista | Comments [12] |

| Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 12:16:29 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 9:34:09 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

I guess we have taken it as read that Media Center will be available off the shelf as part of Vista but what is interesting is if Windows XP home or pro can be upgraded to Home Premium or Ultimate, so giving a path for users of Home or Pro a way to upgrade to Media Center rather than rebuild as they would have to do now with a OEM copy of MCE

Ian

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 2:41:12 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Charlie,
I had just skimmed over the press release and missed that important detail as well :) Do you know if PCs will have to meet the Aero Glass interface requirements in order to run the next version of WMC?

Christopher Cermingham

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:28:50 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Currently, MCE2005 cant be joined to a domain. I assume that the Ultimate SKU of Vista will be able to join a domain...but will I be able to use the MCE in Vista functionality if I do that?

Sam Kinison

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:52:47 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Great, so we will also be able to buy CableCARD/DirecTV/HD DVD/Blu-ray hardware to go with it, correct? While I assume we will be able to buy hardware for HD DVD/Blu-ray, if PC's have to be certified by CableCARD's, this is just another step in the wrong direction for DIY. No point in being able to buy Media Center via Retail if you can't get the main features!

Chris

Chris Lanier

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 5:07:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

I wrote up a quick piece about this. Charlie I assume that you don't have a large hand in the CableCARD bits, but current and future Media Center wants to know what's needed here!

Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?
http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2006/02/28/85050.aspx

Chris Lanier

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 10:03:34 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Vista is not all about cable card Chris
it's a non issue in the Uk at the moment so Charlie's comment about retail are valid For me

Ian Dixon

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 11:09:12 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

While it's not all about "CableCARD" in general, it is about "new media" which is a big selling point for Media Center w/ Vista. No doubt you will see Microsoft push Media Center within Vista for things like CableCARD, DirecTV, HD DVD, DVD Changers, etc. The problem is that there is no clear information on what specific hardware is needed for this. Will the fact that you can purchase Media Center retail matter if you can't get the hardware to go with it? I've personally covered this topic a lot, and there are some things that it seems like we will be able to buy the hardware for, and then there are things that are being reported that we can't buy (CableCARD for example).

As for the UK, there is little doubt that BSkyB will lanuch Sky by Broadband without any special hardware support. But what if they get STBs to output the digital signal directly? Will a retail version of Media Center be supported since you might or might not be able to get the hardware needed?

My point is that retail Media Center might be past it's prime is users are going to be locked into new PC's with Vista already installed to get the features marketed.

Chris Lanier

Chris Lanier

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 12:18:50 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

--> Do you know if PCs will have to meet the Aero Glass interface requirements in order to run the next version of WMC?

No. The Windows Media Center feature is independent of aero glass. However, there will be requirements (as there are today) which might be higher than entry level hardware (for example, a 32MB video card won't cut it for Media Center).

--> Currently, MCE2005 cant be joined to a domain. I assume that the Ultimate SKU of Vista will be able to join a domain...but will I be able to use the MCE in Vista functionality if I do that?

Windows Vista Ultimate (which includes Windows Media Center) can join a domain without impairing functionality. I'm doing this today working on the product. :-)

--> Great, so we will also be able to buy CableCARD/DirecTV/HD DVD/Blu-ray hardware to go with it, correct?

Chris, I wish I had the answers for you and others with regards to this issue. I have sent your post (and others) to the folks who manage this piece of technology -- hopefully than will be able to clarify. That said, think steps here -- having Media Center in retail is a big step for our product and an important win for consumers. I think this is still valuable in the long term even if certain features can't be enabled in the package in the short term. It was important for us to get Media Center out there via OEM only first to set the stage for System Builder and ultimately retail later. That said (again) I don't know any specifics about CableCard -- if I can find out and am able to share, I will.

Charlie Owen

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 5:33:09 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

I just made a comment on Chris's post.

"Nothing like putting myself in more debt just to watch TV."

I just bought a 6600GT, x2 3800+, and mobo. I'm hopin' that I can add cablecard and hd dvd.

Don't tell me I have to buy an OEM just to watch HDTV (premium) and HD DVDs!