I've heard rumors of this for over four years now: http://www.apple.com/imac/frontrow.html.

Frankly, I'm underwhelmed -- I really expected Apple to have much more to brag about, especially given their momentum with iPod over the last couple of years.  Based on everything I'm seeing, Front Row doesn't even have feature parity with the first version of Media Center released back in October 2002. No hint of a developer platform either -- that's a shame -- I was really looking forward to dusting off my Mac coding skills again.

But don't get me wrong -- I do think this is a good thing.  The halls here in Building 50 are buzzing with excitement (and yes, it's positive excitement -- we love this stuff).  It's classic Microsoft vs. Apple, and we haven't really had that for a lonnnnnng time, and some of us miss that competition.

So, welcome back Apple, it's good to see you again!

What do you think -- was this a good move for Apple?

This is too funny: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8335653541

This happened a couple of weeks ago so I'm a bit tardy about telling you.  Check out the new landing page at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mce.  We refactored the page a good bit to help you drill down on all the great resources at MSDN and elsewhere on developing applications for Media Center.

Let me know what you think...

I posted a couple of quick samples / tools you might find handy...

onRemoteHandler.zip contains a complete onRemoteEvent handler which traps all of the remote control buttons passed into hosted HTML applications. Well, almost all -- I didn't explicitly include the 'More Information' button because we don't really recommend you leverage that button.

KeyPress.zip is a utility function which will present a Media Center dialog for each button press passed into hosted HTML applications.  I've used this in the past to confirm my remote control presses were actually being passed into the pages if experiencing some weird behavior.  It's especially helpful if you are using frames and you need to validate the button presses are being passed from parent to child.

Visit Donate To American Red Cross Hurricane Relief To Enter Raffle for a Copy of Visual Studio 2005, Office or Windows to learn more.  Only 5 donors so far, 4 great prizes.  That's quite surprising to me, but good for you if you haven't donated yet -- the chances of winning are extremely high.

Those affected by the hurricane still need our help, so take time today and give.

I've got to talk with folks like Tim Sneath more often -- with lot's of Avalon team members it's hard to make the rounds regularly; There are many of them and only one of me until we get the other Program Manager hired.  In Build an Avalon Web Browser Application Tim states WBAs are '...perfect for enterprise applications where you don't want to deploy anything to the client (simply browse to http://myserver/myapp.wba) and they'll also be great for really immersive web experiences as Avalon becomes more ubiquitous on the desktop.'

Hey Tim, did you forget developers will be able to create Media Center experiences using Windows Presentation Foundation Web Browser Applications?  If you (or others) need a refresher, check out Lot's of Goodness for Media Center Developers at PDC05.

I had the distinct privilege of spending some quality time with Peter Nears, Jason Tsang and one other MVP representing Windows Shell -- all flew in from the Toronto area this evening, but were up for chatting at the Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Seattle tonight.  Thanks for the stimulating conversation and the great, honest feedback we have come to expect from such passionate supporters of Microsoft.

Here is your chance to come work literally side-by-side with me on the Media Center team.

All of the details can be found at http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=18d751b0-09db-4a1b-9bee-358994028374.

Come join the BEST team at Microsoft (in my humble opinion of course).

So, after reading the latest response from Thomas multiple times I think I've boiled it down to this single statement...

'My points above most of all Charlie revolve not around the IF part of them being developed but the WHEN part of them being developed.'

There are many reasons why a corporation doesn't talk about the 'when' of any feature / product.  Here are a few...

1. Disclosing information at the wrong time or with too many people can jeopardize intellectual property rights, leading to the inability to capitalize on innovation (and therefore underwrite further innovation).
2. Talking prematurely can incorrectly set expectations (i.e. ship dates).
3. Loose lips sink ships; Talking about a deal before the deal is done puts the deal at risk.
4. They don't know (yet).
5. They know, but choose to wait (for marketing, intellectual property reasons, coordination with partners, bandwidth, etc.)

...and I'm sure there are more. I don't think this information is new for most people, and it's certainly not unique to Microsoft.  Most people will agree this stuff is common sense (at least I hope they do).

I totally empathize with Thomas, for he is stuck between two very difficult but positive choices...

Option 1: Sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement and have access to information NOT generally known to the public (like answers to 'when').  The flip side: Thomas couldn't say anything to the community about what he knows lest he invoke the wrath of lawyers and / or permanently damage his relationships with Microsoft on a variety of levels. He would know some really cool stuff long before others, but he couldn't *share* what he knows with the community at large until everyone knows.

Option 2: NOT sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement and have access to information generally known to the public (like answers to 'if'). The flip side: Thomas can freely share all that he learns without the worry of invoking the wrath of lawyers. Whoever talks to him does need to worry, though, meaning they might not be as forthcoming. He might get tidbits of information here and there, but largely learns along with the rest of the crowd.

Back over to you Thomas...

On the back of their subwoofer KSW10 is a level dial -- the numbers go to 11.