Digital Home Thoughts: Ask Me About Windows Vista (and Extender 360)

"While it’s not vista, I’ll talk about that here too since that’s where I got the most information that was new to me and I was assured by the product team that I could blog about everything I saw with respect to MCX on 360. That also means you’re welcome to ask me questions about the 360 to which I might actually be able to respond. Some of these features and details I hadn’t seen confirmed anywhere but maybe I just haven’t been reading enough. Here’s my lowdown on the XBox 360 Media Center Extender based on what I saw last week."



As usual, it looks like Microsoft has been busy crossing the t's and dotting the i's. The Xbox 360 MCX interface is shaping up to be the best yet, with more powerful hardware backing it up than has ever been seen in a Media Center Extender. As far as I know it's the only MCX that can stream HD video. One thing I really have to agree with Peter on however: if you plan on streaming HD video through your home network, don't do it wirelessly. I recently attempted to do this using a wireless multimedia device and my mixed 802.11b/g home network, and it was a disaster. Stick with wireless G at the very least, or bust out those ethernet cables if you can stand the clutter. You'll thank me later.