WMC also supports up to four TV tuners for DVR-like viewing and recording, and it can archive recorded shows to DVD. With it you can view photo slide shows (complete with Ken Burns-style pan and zoom effects), watch DVDs and videos, browse your music library by cover art, and connect to various online services (including movie-download stores CinemaNow and Movielink). Windows Media Center, a standard component of Vista Home Premium and Vista Platinum, offers a free electronic program guide (EPG) for users who add a TV tuner.The most obvious choice is Windows Media Center (WMC), which–despite being a Vista-bundled freebie–offers a rich feature set and a dazzling interface. Step one is to choose a media-center program–though as noted previously, you may already have one. For a complete guide to assembling a media center PC from the ground up, see Zack Stern’s excellent “ Build Your Own High-Def PC.” Note: In this guide, I’ll focus exclusively on ways that you can turn your existing computer into a media center. So when we talk about turning your PC into a media center, we mean installing software that finds, catalogs, and plays your media files–and looks good while doing it. And Linux users have several free options, including Freevo and LinuxMCE.Īll of those applications scan your PC for photos, music, videos, and the like, and then present them inside an oversize, TV-friendly interface (commonly known as a 10-foot interface, meaning it’s easily viewable from the couch).
MEDIA CENTER OS MAC OS X
Mac OS X Leopard users already have basic media-center software in the form of Apple’s Front Row, though third-party alternatives are also available. In fact, if you’re running Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, you’re set: Microsoft baked Windows Media Center right into the OS. The open-source Freevo is one of several great no-cost media-center applications for Linux.You don’t necessarily need to buy new hardware, and the software part of this upgrade could be easier than you think.
MEDIA CENTER OS MOVIE
All you need is the right software, and possibly some extra hardware, to give your machine new life as a jukebox, a high-def digital photo frame, a movie theater, and a TiVo clone. You can do all that and more by transforming your PC into a self-contained media center.
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