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Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center (WMC) is a digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista, as well as all editions of Windows 7 except Starter and Home Basic. It was also available on Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro as a paid add-on. It was discontinued as of Windows 10 and the operating system also removes all of Windows Media Center during an upgrade from previous versions of Windows, although it can reportedly be unofficially reinstalled using a series of Command Prompt commands.[1][2]

Not to be confused with Windows Media Player.

Developer(s)

Included with:

Also available for:

Media Center can play slideshows, videos and music from local hard drives, optical drives and network locations. Users can stream television programs and films through selected services such as Netflix. Content can be played back on computer monitors or on television sets through the use of devices called Windows Media Center Extenders. It is also possible to watch and pause live TV. Up to six TV tuners on a tuner card are supported simultaneously. Both standard- and high-definition unencrypted video are supported through DVB-T and ATSC standards. It is possible to view encrypted cable television channels by using an internal or external tuner that supported CableCARD.


Shortly after Windows 7's 2009 release, Microsoft disbanded the Media Center development team, thus abandoning any further software developments. Consequently, the Media Center interface remained unchanged for Windows 8 and 8.1 users. In May 2015, Microsoft announced that Windows Media Center would be discontinued on Windows 10, and that it would be removed when upgrading; but stated that those upgrading from a version of Windows that included the Media Center application would receive the paid Windows DVD Player app for free to maintain DVD playback functionality.[3]

Support for two dual-.

tuner cards

Native /MPEG-2 support.

DVD

Addition of Movies and DVD button which lists all the on the hard drive and DVD.

movies

Tasks button that provides access to jobs such as setting up and configuring a device.

media center extender

Any video playing is overlaid on the background of the , if the UI is navigated while the video is still playing.

user interface

Support for (HD) content, and CableCARD support.

high-definition

Uses the CLR.

.NET 2.0

epg123 (free software that lets WMC get EPG data from other sources)

WebGrab+Plus (standalone EPG software)

SchedulesDirect (provides EPG data for software like EPG123, at a cost of $25 per year)

EPG Collector (open-source software to insert over-the-air EPG data into Windows Media Center 7)

(a free, open-source, and cross-platform media center software)

Kodi

Comparison of DVR software packages

MediaPortal

Microsoft Mediaroom

Personal video recorder

XrossMediaBar

Official website: current support article

Official website: last archive.org copy of defunct full site

The Green Button Forum

The Media Center Sandbox: Official developer's forum

Windows Experts Community: Official user forum