Help save Windows Media Center

[Hillbilly]

With the release of Windows 10 Microsoft has decided not to support Windows Media Center any longer. I have been using Windows Media Center as the backbone of my HTPC setup for around 10 years now and I hate to see it go. In my opinion it was the easiest to setup and have the most polished user interface. If you would like to try and save Windows Media Center please sign the petitions that follow.

http://www.mediacenterdontdie.com/petition/ (These folks got the best ideas)

and

https://www.change.org/p/microsoft-...pt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition (The obligatory change.org option)

I may be in a small minority and Windows Media Center is destined to go the way of the dodo. :-(

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'd rather open software improve to the point that WMC is no longer needed.

 

[rtwjunkie]

While I feel this will not win, I also feel your pain.

For my HTPC, I use a program called MyMovies (which has a corresponding server version installed on my server), and it streams at DVD quality and plays them in it's interface on the HTPC installed in Media Center. That means it is decidedly not upgradeable peice of equipment. The developer has asked us to continue to use W7 or W8.1 (with Media Center) until they can develop their own inerface program to display the movies and catalog exactly like it works in Media Center.

So, I do understand your dismay, I felt the same, but MS is an intractable dog, and once it digs its feet in there is no changing it. Time to find a good alternative unfortunately.

 

[newtekie1]

Kodi >> WMC

 

[Kursah]

VLC locally and Plex over the network FTW!

WMC is meh anymore, can't say I've given the W10 version a fair shake and maybe I will, but frankly I'm not too concerned with moving beyond my current solutions that work so damn well that were to replace a crappy WMC version in the first place...

 

[rtwjunkie]

Kodi >> WMC

It may very well be, but unfortunately with MyMovies, there are many thousands of users that don't have that option.

 

[qubit]

I wouldn't bother saving it. Media Portal is free, open source and much better and more advanced than WMC.

http://www.team-mediaportal.com

 

[newtekie1]

It may very well be, but unfortunately with MyMovies, there are many thousands of users that don't have that option.

Considering Kodi organizes all the media itself, everyone that uses MyMovies do in fact have that option.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Considering Kodi organizes all the media itself, everyone that uses MyMovies do in fact have that option.

As per the developer himself, it works so-so, and does not organize movies to the same detail as the native option, and does not have the same detail of streaming. They've also had additional problems trying to get things synched everytime there is a version change.

 

[newtekie1]

As per the developer himself, it works so-so, and does not organize movies to the same detail as the native option, and does not have the same detail of streaming. They've also had additional problems trying to get things synched everytime there is a version change.

That's because they are trying to get their product to work with Kodi. But you don't need their product at all. I just dump every movie I own into a single folder, and Kodi does everything from there. MyMovies is a useless program.

 

[Vayra86]

Honestly I am glad to see this piece of bloat removed from the Windows OS.

There are far better alternatives that are open source and more versatile across devices. And there is Chromecast that can transfer any screen in the house to your TV set (using it, it is AWESOME).

 

[rtwjunkie]

MyMovies is a useless program.

Thanks, your opinion is noted, but is overpowered by thousands very pleased with it.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Kodi >> WMC

There's a LOT I don't like about Kodi from having substandard codecs (it struggles to stream 1080p video for me), to a lot of plugins (like for MediaPortal) that are no longer actively developed, to it locking up when dealing with massive libraries, to it's search and filter options for music being rubbish.

MediaPortal's client fixes some things (especially access to massive folders of content) but not everything (the UI is wonky with mouse). Open source pretty much has everything separately but no one has taken the best of the bits and packed it into one easy to use package. MPC-HC mostly fixes the streaming codecs issues but it doesn't have all of the features of Kodi and MediaPortal.

 

[newtekie1]

Thanks, your opinion
is noted, but is overpowered by thousands very pleased with it.

There are far more people using Kodi than MyMovies...so yeah...

It is more like thousands of people that are afraid to try anything else. I'm surprised they all aren't still running Windows 98, anything else is too scaaary for them...

There's a LOT I don't like about Kodi from having substandard codecs (it struggles to stream 1080p video for me)

I've never had an issue streaming 1080p with Kodi, even on my laptop with hardware acceleration disabled(because the iGPU on the i3 artifacts) unless the network connection was junk.

to a lot of plugins (like for MediaPortal) that are no longer actively developed

Yeah, that is one of the problems when dealing with everything being open source and plug-ins relying on people donating time to develop. But the flip side is someone could come along and pick it back up. And, hey, at least the entire program isn't being dropped.

to it locking up when dealing with massive libraries

Yeah, it can be a little slow when first indexing large libraries. But other than that, I haven't had issues. And my movie collection has over 1,300 movies in it.

to it's search and filter options for music being rubbish

I never use it for music, so I'll have to take your word for it.

 

[Zedicus]

As per the developer himself, it works so-so, and does not organize movies to the same detail as the native option, and does not have the same detail of streaming. They've also had additional problems trying to get things synched everytime there is a version change.

are you trying to connect KODI to the MyMovies backend? what features are you trying to accomplish? KODI as a separate platform can do any feature set you are trying to accomplish with MyMovies. and if you would discribe the "can't live without" features that you want, some helpful tpu user would probably guide you through the process. plus KODI can stream blueray with no res or audio limit, if your network can handle the bandwidth.

 

[rtwjunkie]

There's a LOT I don't like about Kodi from having substandard codecs (it struggles to stream 1080p video for me), to a lot of plugins (like for MediaPortal) that are no longer actively developed, to it locking up when dealing with massive libraries, to it's search and filter options for music being rubbish.

You've just listed all the reasons the MyMovies developer is developing his own interface to replace WMC and work with MyMovies. The organizational abilities, and the inability of Kodi to stream the rippd movies consistently at DVD quality are a big reason the overwhelming number of users asked for him to not focus on improving Kodi interface, but to make his own.

 

[Zedicus]

There's a LOT I don't like about Kodi from having substandard codecs (it struggles to stream 1080p video for me), to a lot of plugins (like for MediaPortal) that are no longer actively developed, to it locking up when dealing with massive libraries, to it's search and filter options for music being rubbish.

KODI streams 1080p with 5.1 surround on a AMD brazos with built in HD6350. the hardware was under 150$ new. i dont know what people are running that has issues running 1080p but maybe its time to put the single core duron out to pastor.

the only time KODI has CODEC issues is if you are trying to run it as an app on windows. don't do that.

 

[Caring1]

I built a media centre and used WMC with the original remote when I had a TV tuner that worked properly, finding the right tuner and drivers wasn't as easy as it should be. I scrapped that build and never looked back.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Haswell server with a dedicated 1TB 7200 RPM drive
gigabit network (streams > 100 MB/s easily)
Nehalem client with HD 5870. A four hour recording will buffer maybe a dozen times. An hour long recording doesn't buffer.

 

[newtekie1]

KODI streams 1080p with 5.1 surround on a AMD brazos with built in HD6350. the hardware was under 150$ new. i dont know what people are running that has issues running 1080p but maybe its time to put the single core duron out to pastor.

the only time KODI has CODEC issues is if you are trying to run it as an app on windows. don't do that.

I run it in Windows all the time, never have an issue.

The network connection plays a big role in streaming high-biterate content. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the source of the problem a lot of the time. Kodi doesn't buffer enough of the video before starting playback, IMO. But heck, wire your HTPC, don't use crappy wireless G, and you're fine.

 

[Zedicus]

i stream 4 dedicated HTPC's with KODI only installs. 2 of them are wired, 2 of them are wireless N 5ghz. and stream to 3 other regular computers (one is KODI install on a windows laptop that gets used for lots of random stuff). and a phone and a tablet.

my media collection has 10,000 episodes just in the TV series. i dunno on movies, 1000's anyway. and the show quality ranges from VHS to 20+ gig bluerays, and some random ISO rips i have not converted yet.

the network gear plays the biggest part of being able to accomplish this set up. the NIC on the storage server makes a huge difference in performance. an onboard realtec is worthless.

 

[Hillbilly]

I'd rather open software improve to the point that WMC is no longer needed.

One of the options presented on the mediacenterdontdie.com petition is to open source the software. Much better than letting it die.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Those 4 hour recordings weigh in at 24 GB each (MPEG2-TS).

One of the options presented on the mediacenterdontdie.com petition is to open source the software. Much better than letting it die.

Microsoft can't. There's a lot of licensed software in there which is a huge reason why it got the axe (Microsoft doesn't want to keep paying to renew licenses).

 

[rtwjunkie]

There are far more people using Kodi than MyMovies...so yeah...

It is more like thousands of people that are afraid to try anything else. I'm surprised they all aren't still running Windows 98, anything else is too scaaary for them...

Of course more people will use free versus paying. That's not a great feat of knowledge to know that. People are cheap by and large. I'm frequently guilty of it myself, but when something is worth buying, I will always pay for quality.

As for the second sentence, now you are just being ignorant and inflammatory, almost to the point of trolling (but because it's you, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not) because everyone won't jump on your ship. Since when do we have to all be the same and not have choice?

As to the users, most are very, very technically proficient in HTPC setup and operation and anything media-related. Both their forum as well as WegotServed forums are my preference for those specialites as their members are much more adept at these subjects than most people here.

 

[Hillbilly]

While I feel this will not win, I also feel your pain.

For my HTPC, I use a program called MyMovies (which has a corresponding server version installed on my server), and it streams at DVD quality and plays them in it's interface on the HTPC installed in Media Center. That means it is decidedly not upgradeable peice of equipment. The developer has asked us to continue to use W7 or W8.1 (with Media Center) until they can develop their own inerface program to display the movies and catalog exactly like it works in Media Center.

So, I do understand your dismay, I felt the same, but MS is an intractable dog, and once it digs its feet in there is no changing it. Time to find a good alternative unfortunately.

I'll look into MyMovies. Thanks! My big concern is DVR functionality.