What was unexpected was the deprecation of audio codecs and DVD playback to the Media Center Pack as well. So, deprecating Media Center to the level of a near-orphaned feature is not surprising in the slightest. For a feature to have such low usage, 10 years after it was first introduced, means that whatever efforts to gain traction have failed, and further efforts are unlikely to have great success. In data Microsoft published last year, Media Center was launched by 6% of Windows 7 users. Why take such an apathetic approach to Media Center? Usage. The add-on will be the same experience found in Windows 7, with no apparent additions.
#MEDIA CENTER FOR WINDOWS 8.1 PRO#
In the post regarding SKUs, the Windows 8 team announced that Media Center would not be included in any of the Windows 8 releases, but would be available for Windows 8 Pro users as an add-on. The new Media Center is the old Media Center, wholesale. And in their latest post, the Windows 8 team reveals the new face of Media Center. As the Building Windows blog was updated we saw promises that Media Center would be there, but with little in the way of details. Despite our, and your, enthusiasm, Microsoft dropped hints throughout the product’s various iterations that Media Center’s role in Windows 8 was minimal. AnandTech has been covering the Home Theater PC space since those halcyon days when Windows XP Media Center was rolling out, and the era of dual-core Pentiums promised tolerable playback of DVD-quality AVI files.