Windows 7 Media Center and the UK?

[John Lockwood]

Anyone tried the Windows 7 beta to see if it better supports UK digital TV?

Does it for example restore H.264 support? (Removed in the official TV Pack
update.) What about DVB-S2 support? CAMS/Viewing Cards?

Remember Microsoft, there are now only three years to go until the London
Olympics and as of today you still cannot get ANY form of HDTV in (Vista)
Media Center in the UK (and most/all of Europe).

[Brian L Johnson]

Post by John Lockwood
Anyone tried the Windows 7 beta to see if it better supports UK digital TV?

Yes, I'm running it and WMC is not (IMO) better than the Vista 32 Home Premium version that I was using previously.

For instance, to ask for info on a program or delete a recording or hit record or do most any of the 'actions' now takes more keypresses than before. All accompanied by a swooshing in and out of windows. I now see substantial pauses while it looks in my Videos' folder for the videos in there (it sees 28, then freezes for 20 seconds before it suddenly shoots up to 328). Icons for music and programs don't seem to be cached.

Post by John Lockwood
Does it for example restore H.264 support? (Removed in the official TV
Pack update.) What about DVB-S2 support? CAMS/Viewing Cards?

Alas, I don't know anything about those (I use a basic Virgin VBox) but I do know that playing DVDs results in

unexplained

pauses

every 10 mins or so.

I'm sufficiently unhappy with it that I'm considering going back to booting back into Vista for most stuff.

<snippety>

[John Lockwood]

Post by Brian L Johnson

Post by John Lockwood
Anyone tried the Windows 7 beta to see if it better supports UK digital TV?

Yes, I'm running it and WMC is not (IMO) better than the Vista 32 Home Premium
version that I was using previously.
For instance, to ask for info on a program or delete a recording or hit record
or do most any of the 'actions' now takes more keypresses than before. All
accompanied by a swooshing in and out of windows. I now see substantial
pauses while it looks in my Videos' folder for the videos in there (it sees
28, then freezes for 20 seconds before it suddenly shoots up to 328). Icons
for music and programs don't seem to be cached.

Post by John Lockwood
Does it for example restore H.264 support? (Removed in the official TV
Pack update.) What about DVB-S2 support? CAMS/Viewing Cards?

Alas, I don't know anything about those (I use a basic Virgin VBox) but I do
know that playing DVDs results in
unexplained
pauses
every 10 mins or so.
I'm sufficiently unhappy with it that I'm considering going back to booting
back into Vista for most stuff.
<snippety>

Wow that bad :-o

The limited reports I have seen so far also seem to suggest WMP12 has failed
to make a significant improvement, for example it still does not support the
Zune. Admittedly this only affects a handful of people. :)

Thanks for your response, it looks like my hard earned cash is safe from
Microsoft's hands for another five years at least since paying for an
upgrade from MCE 2005 still seems pointless.

[Brian L Johnson]

Post by John Lockwood

Post by Brian L Johnson

Post by John Lockwood
Anyone tried the Windows 7 beta to see if it better supports UK digital TV?

<snippety>

Post by John Lockwood

Post by Brian L Johnson
I'm sufficiently unhappy with it that I'm considering going back to
booting back into Vista for most stuff.
<snippety>

Wow that bad :-o
The limited reports I have seen so far also seem to suggest WMP12 has
failed to make a significant improvement, for example it still does not
support the Zune. Admittedly this only affects a handful of people. :)

I noticed that the library element of WMP 12 wanted to do Pictures and Videos and stuff, so I let it loose cataloging my photos.

Big mistake.

I let it run for most of the afternoon and it still hadn't got anywhere near producing thumbnails for all of the photos. After a few hours, (I'm quick like that!) it dawned on me that what it was very likely doing was producing yet another set of multi-sized thumbnails and associated 42-digit references for some humongous database somewhere and it was basically going to make my Registry as big as Sheffield.

No chance.

[Gaz.dick]

However, WM7 does now fully support Mheg technology.
There is an inbuilt Movies feature (from disc/HDD)
Music and pictures are improved.

general stability is improved.

only thing for me is that MCE does not work well over extenders at present.