Windows Media Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2. Windows XP (Windows XP Media Center Edition).
Windows Media Player 11 offers great new ways to store and enjoy all of your digital media. It's easier than ever to access all of your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV on your computer. Play it, view it, organize it.
It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista, as well as all versions of Windows 7 except Starter and Home Basic. It was available on Windows 8 and Windows 8. Windows 1. 0. The abbreviation MCE is often used to refer to all versions of the Windows Media Center system. Media Center can play slideshows, videos and music from local hard drives, optical drives and network locations. Users can stream television programs and films through selected services such as Netflix. Content can be played back on computer monitors or on television sets through the use of devices called Windows Media Center Extenders. It is also possible to watch and pause live TV.
Up to six TV tuners on a tuner card are supported simultaneously. Both standard- and high- definition unencrypted video are supported through DVB- T and ATSC standards. It is possible to view encrypted private network television stations that are not broadcast over the air with internal and external tuner options that support the insertion of a Cable. Card provided by the cable TV company. Shortly after Windows 7's 2. Microsoft disbanded the Media Center development team, thus abandoning any further software developments.
Consequently, the Media Center interface remained unchanged for Windows 8/8. In May 2. 01. 5 Microsoft announced that Windows Media Center would be discontinued on Windows 1. Windows that included the Media Center application would receive the paid Windows DVD Playerapp to maintain DVD playback functionality.[1]History[edit]Windows Media Center, codenamed "Freestyle", was first included with Windows XP Media Center Edition. A new version of WMC was included in Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions. The user interface was redesigned and tailored for the 1. Support for multiple tuners was added in later releases and varies depending upon the version of the operating system purchased. Support for many Windows Media Center Extender hardware devices, that had been released pre- Vista, was also dropped leaving many owners out of luck if they did not upgrade to one of the supported Windows Vista versions from the Windows XP Media Center Edition.
Also introduced to U. S. users was Internet TV, which allows access to streaming content through WMC. It also allows video game content. Microsoft later updated WMC with a feature pack known as TV Pack 2. This release, codenamed "Fiji", was only made available via OEMs for new computers that came preinstalled with the update. It is not available as an update for existing WMC users.[3][4][5] The update tweaked the user interface, added support for digital subchannels, QAM, DVB- S and MHEG, and increased the total number of each type of tuner allowed.
It used . wtv files instead of . Beta versions also supported H. Much of the functionality added with TV Pack 2. Media Center included in Windows 7, along with an update to the user interface.[9]WMC was not included in Windows 8.[1.
Learn more about Windows Media Center, including info about what entertainment you can view, how to get it, how to set it up, and troubleshooting steps. Ortek Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition. Windows requirements. VLC runs on all versions of Windows, from Windows XP SP3 to the last version of Windows 10. VLC for Windows 95/98/Me. Please install KernelEx or take an old version of VLC. Older versions. Older versions.
Instead, it is part of a Media Center Pack add- on available only for retail versions[1. Windows 8 Pro, and Pro Pack that upgrades Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro.[1. Discontinuation[edit]During the 2. Build developers' conference, a Microsoft executive confirmed that Media Center, with its TV receiver and PVR functionality, would not be updated for or included with Windows 1. A DVD playback app called Windows DVD Player is to be installed after the first Windows 1. Update.[1. 3][1. 4]Some users who wanted Microsoft to provide an official port of the Windows Media Center for Windows 1.
Microsoft via their Windows Feedback app included with Windows 1. Unofficial Windows 1. Port[edit]Although Windows Media Center is not officially available in Windows 1. My Digital Life (MDL) Forums[1. Early versions of the Windows Media Center on Windows 1.
The de facto standard for Windows media playback is Windows Media Player. Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows Vista (Home Premium and Ultimate editions) Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise editions). Screenshot of Windows Media Center, the exclusive component of Windows XP Media Center Edition. The CMI8738 driver package contains a driver for PCI cards that are based on the CMI8378 chipset.
Insider Preview builds of Windows 1. These versions had issues downloading the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data form Microsoft's servers because they did not receive a patch that other Windows versions got. Later versions of the Windows Media Center on Windows 1. Windows 8. 1 Pro, which fixed this problem. As of January 2. 9, 2. Windows Media Center is available on both 3. Windows 1. 0, with the release of the latest v.
The v. 12 installer can also be used on Windows 8 and 8. Media Center Pack add- on, including non- Pro editions of Windows 8 and 8. Some users have also been able to install the Windows Media Center on Windows Home Server 2. Windows Server 2. R2 and Windows Server 2. Many prominent websites including Lifehacker[1. Win. Beta[1. 9], Beta.
News[2. 0], Windows Central[2. IBTimes[2. 2], have static download links to legacy versions of the installer. These early versions have several problems that the latest installer fixes including issues with the EPG data not downloading, scheduled recordings not starting on time[1. Cable. Card (DRM) channels not being playable and no support for 3. This has created confusion among users who assume they are installing the latest version. Version history[edit]Release history. Windows 1. 0 Port from Windows 8.
Pro. Version. Default Branch[2. Alternative Branch by T- S[2. Release Date. 32 bit. XJanuary 2. 9, 2. XXv. 11[2. 3][2. 5]XDecember 2. Xv. 10[2. 3][2. 6]XNovember 2.
Xv. 10[2. 3][2. 7]XNovember 2. Xv. 9[2. 8]XNovember 2. XXv. 8. 8. 1[2. 4]XAugust 1. Xv. 8. 8[2. 4]XAugust 1. Xv. 8. 7[2. 4]XAugust 7, 2. Xv. 8. 6[2. 4]XJuly 1.
Xv. 8. 5[2. 4]XJuly 6, 2. XDISM v. 0[2. 9]XNovember 1.
XXv. 8[2. 3][3. 0]XOctober 5, 2. Xv. 7[2. 3][3. 1]XSeptember 2. Xv. 6[3. 2][2. 3]XXv. XXv. 4[3. 3]XXv. 3[3. XXv. 3[3. 3]XXv. 2[3. XXv. 1[3. 3]XSeptember 9, 2. Xv. 0 revised[3. 4]XSeptember 1.
Xv. 0[3. 5]XSeptember 9, 2. XPort from Windows 1. Insider Preview Build 1. XSeptember 1. 6, 2.
XPort from Windows 1. Insider Preview Build 1.
XXv. 3[3. 7]XXv. 2. XSeptember 7, 2. 01. Xv. 2[3. 8]XXv. 0 revised[3. XXv. 0[3. 2]XSeptember 5, 2. XThe WMC Electronic Program Guide (EPG) caused several problems both before and after official discontinuation of the software. On several occasions, both in the USA and Europe, television channels were excluded from the EPG, and it did not extend as far into the future as it should.[3.
This affects users of WMC on (unsupported) Windows XP, and on (supported) Vista and other pre- 1. Features[edit]Media Center uses TV tuner devices to play back and record TV shows from standard antenna, cable or satellite signals. Users can record television programs manually or schedule recording via the electronic program guide. Recordings can be burned to Video DVD or, barring copy restrictions, be transferred to a portable media player. Media Center supports both analog and digital tuners and allows up to six of each tuner type (analog, digital over- the- air, Clear QAM, Cable. Card) to be configured.
All the tuners use the same guide data but it can be edited and configured to include additional channels such as Clear QAM not found or included in most Titan Guides. While playing live television, the program keeps a buffer that allows users to rewind or pause live TV and skip commercials. A third party program MCEbuddy allows automatic commercial skipping on recorded programs. Media Center can stream both live and recorded contents to Windows Media Center Extenders such as the Xbox 3.
Windows computers can just access recorded content. Playback of content on television is possible through Media Center Extenders or by directly connecting a computer running Windows Media Center to a television. The menus of Windows Media Center are displayed in a 1. Windows Media Center PCs require a sensor to be able to interact with the remote control. To advertise Media Center support, remote controls must also have certain buttons such as the Green Media Center logo Start button and buttons for navigation, playback and volume controls, power and channel flipping.[4. Media file support[edit]Windows Media Center organizes and displays videos and music found on both local and networked computers. Music albums are arranged with accompanying album art that can be downloaded off the Internet automatically or added manually into Media Center.
Users can create playlists of different songs or albums as well. While playing music, the user can pause and fast forward songs and view visualizations. Analog FM radio support is also available if the user's TV tuner supports it.
Media Center allows users to browse pictures and play them in slideshows, as well as play video files. Media can be categorized by name, date, tags, and other file attributes. In addition, users can organize and play films through the "Movie Library" feature introduced in Windows Vista Media Center. Through the "Internet TV" feature, users can also stream television and web shows from select content providers. Cable. Card support[edit]Windows Vista Media Center introduced support for Cable. Card devices. However, Cable.
Card was only supported on OEM hardware that had been certified by Cable. Labs.[4. 2] Windows 7 Media Center supports adding Cable. Card to existing hardware, provided the hardware meets certain requirements.[4. Shortly after the release of Windows 7, Microsoft released the Digital Cable Advisor tool to verify that the requirements are met before activating Cable. Card support.[4. 4]Portable devices[edit]Windows Media Center allows synchronization with certain portable devices. These devices include Windows Mobile. Pocket PCs, smartphones, Portable Media Centers and other players that can sync with Windows Media Player.
Microsoft's Zune cannot use the sync function, but can play Media Center recorder TV files when they are copied to a Zune monitored folder.