HTPC operating system/ software

Slinkie

Slinkie

Slinkie

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Hi Folks,

I currently have a HTPC that I use as a freeview recorder/ bluray and HDD player. I have windows vista installed and use Vista media centre for everything except for HD media for which I use power dvd.

The pc is playing up a bit so I am going to wipe the operating system and reinstall but before I do I wanted to check if there was better software for me to use. Can I use Windows 7 trial and does it have a media centre? I'd eventually get the full version when I need to but I might try it out if it is in anyway better than vista.

Are there any open source OS's that are good for media players or any software that I can use instead of VMC ? It's a bit annoying having to switch between power dvd and VMC, can anything support Blu ray and HDDVD playback natively?

Thanks

Matt
 
in a nutshell no - opensource can do everything there really well (arguably as good\better then win7) EXCEPT Bluray and HDDVD playback. So if you need that youre stuck with windows. To do this under linux you need to rip the bluray to hard disk first as there is no native decryption.
 
Win7 does have a fair number of codecs installed by default, and so far, seems to play most stuff with no fiddling. As said above, for Bluray and hddvd support, you really need to add some software....
 
win7, mediaportal 1.1, stremed mp skin v 0.9.590 (includes moving pictures + mytvseries), mylyrics plugin ,ffdshow + mpc-hc codec

Works a treat but I don't have an optical hd drive
 
I was just going to post a question about media portal.

So it's safe to assume using anything but windows won't play hi def optical media?

Is there anyway to integrate media portal with powerdvd? I don't mind having to use powerdvd still for blu rays etc but I'd like it to launch and stay on top etc when I need it rather than me having to open it up manually, inset the disk and play etc while making sure media centre is stopped. It gets a bit annoying when you are trying to do all of that with just a remote.
 
I tried Vista first and couldn't get everything I needed to work so went with XP SP3 which was fine. Now using 7 for my desktop and HTPC and I wouldn't go back.
 
I did use mediaportal, but got fed up with the TV side of things and constant niggles.

I now use Vista MCE (soon Win7 methinks) with Mediabrowser and have removed the majority of default menu items with Menu Mender.

I have one tab with mediabrowser (all video files/dvds), music library (soon to be integrated into mediabrowser once the plugin is out), live TV, guide and recorded TV and the task tab. Nice and clean :) Am investing in a Blu-Ray drive soon, so will need to look in to that side of things, but I'll probably rip my BR to my fileserver anyway most of the time.



Works a treat :)
 
Last edited:
Yep, jellybeard999 is spot on although I would say that win7 is a better option than Vista now because of the HD channel set up. Add media browser to that and use the new version of menumender (media centre studio) to alter the menu how you want it and you've got, IMO, the best front end.
 
Does anyone have a good guide for windows 7 media center/media browser setup.
im currently dual booting vista and win 7, but use vista as ive not long got it setup with media portal/streamed mp & and it looks ace and does everything i want it to.
 
All those using windows 7, are you using the beta version that runs out in March next year? Does it have media centre in it? I have a upgrade voucher but I won't get the disc for a while but I have a copy of the test version
 
Slinkie said:
All those using windows 7, are you using the beta version that runs out in March next year? Does it have media centre in it? I have a upgrade voucher but I won't get the disc for a while but I have a copy of the test version
Click to expand...

Yes and yes.
 
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