TV to PC: Microsoft's New OS-Windows XP Media Center Edition

> Next Image Previous Image <

by Alan Sheckter
Winter 2002/Spring 2003

Convergence is the name of the game. With home electronics devices getting smarter and smarter, it's no surprise that manufacturers are bridging technologies together. Microsoft's fledgling Windows XP Media Center Edition, which promises to link television and desktop computing, is one such convergence tool. Industry analysts preach that consumers will continue to embrace and be drawn to digital media entertainment. If future PCs are to serve as entertainment devices, Microsoft's eHome Division, through its brand-new Windows XP Media Center Edition, aims to provide a tool to make it happen.

Media Center Unveiled
After a year in the designing stage, Windows XP Media Center Edition, originally referred to by its simpler code name, "Freestyle" (Is it too late to go back?) is ready for prime time. In a nutshell, the new XP-based operating system, slated for release by the end of the year, will have the power to turn PCs into media centers, integrating live TV, personal video recording, digital music and video, DVDs and still images.

Within the operating system lies the Media Center, a streamlined TV-like interface. Rather than a customary Windows desktop, the Media Center, once launched, will offer a few simple button-options on its Start Page: "My TV," "My Music," "My Pictures," "My Videos," "Play DVD" and "Settings." In addition, the Media Center will display your current media choice on a small square in the corner of the screen. Beneath the Media Center will lie a typical PC, capable of such mundane tasks as word processing and spreadsheet creation.

Microsoft will target the Windows XP Media Center Edition to a young audience. Many folks under 25, the company said, including college dorm residents, are big digital media enthusiasts who are living in space-constrained areas. Their TVs and PCs, located in the same room, have, until now, been mutually exclusive.

Though this system is a PC-based solution, Microsoft doesn't want to banish you to your uncomfortable desk chair to watch recently recorded episodes of 60 Minutes or Fear Factor. Thanks to the large, on-screen icon buttons and special Philips infrared remote control, Media Center's design encourages you to operate it from a couch across the room.

Windows XP Media Center Edition will also output to a TV, via composite or S-video from a video tuner card, enabling you to wire your PC to your living room TV set.

Smart TV PC
Windows XP Media Center Edition's most prominent feature is that it will bring TV set-functionality to the PC, allowing you to record live TV from any external video source (antenna, cable or satellite box). You'll be able to play all your digital media back on your PC or to your connected TV set.

Regardless of your TV setup, Microsoft promises that Windows XP Media Center Edition will recognize and work with the signals you receive. Your electronic program guide (EPG) data will come from the Internet, based on your locality and your available TV channels.

If you have no cable, your rabbit ears or antenna will connect to your PC. You'll get the EPG for your local channels, and will be able to record TV from them.

If you have cable TV, your set-top box will connect to a tuner card in your PC. You'll tell your system you have cable, and input the city and state in which you live, and you'll receive your personalized EPG from which you can record TV shows. There will be no tuning cards for satellite TV users, but the PC's infrared blaster will interact with the satellite box and then allow you to record television.

Basically, a Microsoft source said, the Media Center will slave to your set-top box, whether it is a cable box, satellite or otherwise, and give you access to all your channels. This will include pay channels as well, such as HBO and Showtime.

Public Acceptance?
With experts generally agreeing that digital entertainment hubs are the smart way to go, the big question is whether this is the way to do it. Rather than use the PC as base camp for all of your entertainment media, perhaps the public at-large would prefer that their TV would act as a central entertainment hub. Many people have yet to embrace and are still intimidated by desktop computing. They know their TVs always work and that computers tend to crash.

Microsoft eHome isn't expecting household penetration overnight. But building Windows XP Media Center Edition onto Windows XP, an operating system that Microsoft feels is its most stable yet, puts the company in a good position on the convergence road.

Windows XP Media Center Edition is poised to be put forth as an entire operating system, pre-installed and delivered from some big-name PC manufacturers. So far, Hewlett Packard has worked with Microsoft, designing Windows XP Media Center Edition-optimized PCs. (See the HP Media Center PC sidebar.) Microsoft expects the first of these fortified PCs to hit the streets in time for this year's holiday season.

What About TiVo?
Other digital video recorders such as TiVo and ReplayTV offer impressive sets of tools for recording, pausing and rewinding the TV broadcasts of your choice. They can also keep track of your viewing habits and make programming decisions and suggestions based on those viewing patterns. Their only job, however, is to enhance the television experience.

While TVs generally are display-only boxes, admittedly enhanced in recent years, the computing power of desktop computers, especially those powered by software giant Microsoft, have the advantage of offering a place for you to record, store, operate and otherwise manipulate all of your entertainment content: TV shows, music, pictures, videos and DVDs.

PVR Tools
The ability to record live television from your PC is undoubtedly the most prominent feature of Windows XP Media Center Edition. With it, Microsoft promises, you'll also have the ability to pause and rewind live television, and enjoy instant replay and single-frame advance abilities. And with the help of your online EPG, you'll have the ability to manage your recording schedule and record every episode of a series without recording repeat episodes.

In comparison to another media-hub PC, the Sony VAIO MX, Windows XP Media Center Edition's TV-recording capabilities should surpass the Sony, which is limited in its PVR duties to performing basic capture-and-saves of live TV broadcasts.

Compaq's iPaq Music Center and Hewlett-Packard's Entertainment Center, on the other hand, were designed to manage entertainment content as PC-free living room devices. However, neither of them recorded live TV.

Music
With Media Center and your remote control, you'll have the tools to browse your digital music collection by artist, title or genre. Keyword searches will also help you zero in on a particular song. You'll have the ability to manipulate and play your audio files via keyboard or your remote control.

The Microsoft Vision
"Windows XP Media Center Edition represents another step in the evolution of the TV," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "This is the software that brings it together. The Sony MX has some of these features, but not tied together. eHome is taking baby steps getting to that true convergence that we really want, and making it easier for users."

[Sidebar: HP Media Center PC]
Venerable PC manufacturer Hewlett-Packard will combine the features of its Pavilion line of PCs with Windows XP Media Center Edition. At press time, pricing had not been set, but the system was set to include a P4 2.53GHz processor a 120GB, 7,200rpm hard drive, PVR PCI card, three FireWire ports and six USB 2.0 ports.

In addition, the Media Center PC, slated for availability at major U.S. retailers, should include these bells and whistles: HP dvd200i DVD+RW/+R drive, 64MB nVIDIA GeForce4 MX420 graphics card with TV-out, three-piece 200W Klipsch system and 48x CD writer, as well as a keyboard, mouse and remote control.

Buyers will be able to choose from 15- and 17-inch HP LCD flat-panel monitors.

[Sidebar: PCs for Entertainment]
While watching and recording TV shows from a PC is still quite novel, this consumer data bears out that people use their PCs for more than traditional office applications: