Anything new in Windows 8 Media Center?

[darcher]

So is there any reason at all with respect to an HTPC to upgrade to Windows 8?

[carljanderson]

So is there any reason at all with respect to an HTPC to upgrade to Windows 8?

No, IMHO.

[milli260876]

Skype
Quicker/more efficient music library
SkyDrive integration with wp8
*apps from developers/enthusiasts *
Upcoming touchpad remotes from logitech

[darcher]

Other than the remotes, I don't see how much that stuff applies to a dedicated HTPC, but I could be convinced. WMC has so much potential it's a shame how neglected it is. I was in the middle of writing this post and had a 30+ minute conversation with a friend about the merits of an HTPC. Unfortunately, I can't strongly recommend WMC to everyone because it requires so much tech know-how to really make things work. When it's working, it's great (and could be much better if properly supported). When it's not, it's a major source of frustration to my family and, therefore, to me.

[dirtyvu]

WMC seems faster and more responsive under Windows 8. I don't know if this is due to being a fresh install versus a Windows 7 install that lasted a couple of years.

the Internet TV stuff is gone like the CBS shows. maybe that's why it's faster? the extras library seems smaller.

it seems pretty much the same. setup was a little different and simplified than before. it tuned my channels and downloaded the channel guide faster.

I think the big thing is the Windows store. I've already downloaded a ton of free apps. Apps that were on a smartphone that you thought would be awesome on a full-blown PC. Maybe there'll be enterprising young programmers who will release programs that tinker with the WMC experience.

[slowbiscuit]

So is there any reason at all with respect to an HTPC to upgrade to Windows 8?

No, IMHO.

And more importantly for some, doing so will break your non-Xbox extenders.

[foxwood]

the Internet TV stuff is gone like the CBS shows. maybe that's why it's faster? the extras library seems smaller.

The Internet TV stuff was pulled from Windows 7 a couple of months ago.

[RyC]

Did they fix the "1 min" running time bug that sometimes shows up when you move the wtv files off the original computer?

[Listen97]

So is there any reason at all with respect to an HTPC to upgrade to Windows 8?

No, IMHO.

And more importantly for some, doing so will break your non-Xbox extenders.

Well it works with the Xbox extenders but you lose 5.1 and video gets choppy, so I'd say that's broke too.

[barnabas1969]

You'd only need to bridge your extender if it was somehow connected on a seperate network. If everything is plugged into the same router then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. People may be getting spun up over nothing. I imagine the extenders just use UDP like most video devices to stream video. I use my Western Digital Live TV and it was able to see my Windows 8 machines and login to shared folders without problem.

I understand extenders work. Owever I have a separate Acer media center in the bedroom that I share 1 tuner with (2 other eaters use 3). This works well for my wife as she gets all the cable stations in the bedroom,

So network sharing/ bridging is nice. We have had this since hdhomerun (which I still use).

The lack of the ability to bridge the network connection for the Ceton tuner has absolutely nothing to do with the HD HomeRun tuners. The HD HomeRun and HD HomeRun Prime tuners will still work in Win8. The only thing that doesn't work (currently) is sharing your Ceton tuners over the network.