+Frank B. Subscriber² Posted May 2, 2015 Subscriber² Share Posted May 2, 2015 R.I.P., Windows Media Center Summary: Microsoft discontinued development of Windows Media Center in 2009, but enthusiasts have held out hope that the feature would get one more reprieve for Windows 10. Sorry, folks, that's not happening. Windows Media Center is dead. In a private meeting this week at the Build developers' conference in San Francisco, a Microsoft executive confirmed to me that there will be no update to the company's Media Center software for Windows 10. The decision is a disappointment to the small but incredibly vocal army of Media Center enthusiasts, who had held out hope that a Windows 10 Media Center add-on, similar to the one offered for Windows 8, might appear at the last minute. That's not happening. Any PC that is upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 will lose the Media Center functionality, and there's no way to get it back. That decision shouldn't come as a surprise. Media Center, once a signature feature of Windows "premium" editions, has been on life support for years. The team developing Media Center features was broken up in 2009, shortly after delivering the final Media Center code for Windows 7. Source and more: ZDnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoochieMamma Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It had a good run Plex FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted May 2, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted May 2, 2015 Source and more: ZDnet <Article edited> Please don't quote the entire article. It is against our guidelines on posting from other sites. This news doesn't surprise me. I haven't used WMC...well, for a long time. VLC has done a better job for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Zagadka Subscriber² Posted May 2, 2015 Subscriber² Share Posted May 2, 2015 I used it to stream to my Xbox 360. Really clunky, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I used it to stream to my Xbox 360. Really clunky, though. And it's not Microsoft's fault - if anything, blame the content providers. All the content providers (not JUST the cable companies that also provide content, such as Comcast) have insisted on putting their content behind walls that require additional hardware or software (not necessarily paywalls) - look at how much "free" TV content is available exclusively via Hulu, for example. (However, to be honest, Hulu DOES have an app in the Windows App Store.) What they are doing is what it makes SENSE for them to do in a sour economy - monetizing CONVENIENCE. I was a big user of WMC - going back to the original Media Center Edition superset of XP Professional. However, I could see - even then - that the window was closing fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts