Microsoft's Wonderful Windows Media Center Is Dead

Microsoft's BUILD developer conference came with some good news this year. iOS apps are now super easy to bring over to Windows, there's a new browser, and HoloLens looks sweeeet. But there's bad news too; pour one out for Windows Media Center.

For those of you who aren't familiar, Windows Media Center was a program started back on Windows XP. It was basically software that could turn a tiny PC into a DVR for you. Windows Media Center could suck in footage from TV tuners, both analog and digital, and record the footage, or play footage from local and networked drives. Sounds great right? It was. Past tense.

Windows Media Center has been a zombie since the team behind it broke up in 2009. It survived into Windows 8—just barely—thanks to an optional (and paid) upgrade pack. But at BUILD this year, Microsoft said that Media Center will be shuffling off this mortal coil for good.

IT'S A HUGE LOSS FOR HOME-MEDIA NERDS WHO ALREADY HAVE WINDOWS-BASED SYSTEMS SET UP

It's a huge loss for home-media nerds who already have Windows-based systems set up; there's basically no comparable (and free) software that'll get you the same features. If you want a DVR, you're probably going to have to shell out for a Tivo, or a DVR from your cable provider, or reconstruct your whole media-flow around a (paid) service like Plex. Or not upgrade to Windows 10. Why's it have to die? According to Microsoft, nobody's using it. Or at least, not enough people to make it worth keeping the life-support machine on.

Credit: Microsoft

Windows Media Center on Windows XP

There's a potential silver lining though. With Windows Media Center officially dead, there's the possibility that maybe just maybe some of its best eliminates will start showing up in Microsoft's big living room box: the Xbox One. Sure, you have to shell out some $350 for an Xbox One before you can use it, but the system is already making some big strides. It has DLNA and MKV support (i.e. it's great for pirates). It just got TV tuner support in the United States. Soon, it will be running full-on Windows 10, which is to say it'll be a legit computer with access to all sorts of universal apps. And there's a persistent rumor that Microsoft is working on a smaller, cheaper Xbox set-top box.

Windows Media Center was much beloved by geeks and tweakers who understandably loved the power and control it offered, but its waning userbase only goes to show the unfortunate truth: it was only for nerdy nerds. And now, with its death, maybe some of those great features will make their way to the Xbox One were normies can discover the magic. Fingers crossed.

Source: ZDNet