Friday, October 14, 2005
Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 Review
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 12:30 PM
"Fans of Windows XP Media Center now have two disappointments to face. First, for the first time since the original XP Media Center Edition shipped in 2002, Microsoft doesn't have a major update to the popular operating system, but is instead shipping a free but minor update. Second, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is the final version of Windows that will be specifically devoted to Media Center; in the Windows Vista family of operating systems, Media Center software will instead be bundled with a number of Windows Vista product editions (See my guide to Windows Vista product editions for the full details). This review deals largely with the former disappointment, though it's not fair to refer to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 (UR2), as that update is named, as a disappointment. Instead, think of it as a final victory lap for a product that invented a new market category that even Apple is now copying."
Paul Thurrott gives a good overview of UR2, though for most people it's a fairly underwhelming release. No big features, but the smattering of small features will provide a better experience overall. But for those of us wanting do do MCE HDTV for real, it's going to be another long wait - the next MCE release will actually be when it's a part of Vista, so we're talking roughly a year away at best. At any rate, I'm downloading UR2 right now...let's hope it doesn't break anything. ;-)
Paul Thurrott gives a good overview of UR2, though for most people it's a fairly underwhelming release. No big features, but the smattering of small features will provide a better experience overall. But for those of us wanting do do MCE HDTV for real, it's going to be another long wait - the next MCE release will actually be when it's a part of Vista, so we're talking roughly a year away at best. At any rate, I'm downloading UR2 right now...let's hope it doesn't break anything. ;-)
