Windows 7 Media Centre
So the new windows 7 media centre has been put into alpha release. Although this is only the alpha version, and things are still going to change, there are some really nice features that windows 7 media centre has that are new.
Virtual Channels – if you don’t have a TV tuner there will be virtual channels you can watch media off the internet. This allows you to watch google and youtube videos, as well as online TV episodes through streaming sites.
Touch Compatibility – the new media centre will be able to be controlled by touch. In my opinion this is a useless feature, because unless I grow really long arms and my plasma TV becomes touch compatible, I don’t really see it being useful for my HTPC. I’ll be sticking to my remote. But I suppose if you are using it on a touch compatible laptop or something, it would be pretty cool.
Easier – well I haven’t actually used it, but this is what they say. Hopefully it really is easier to set up and use.
There are some other cool features which although they don’t change the experience of using windows media centre, are pretty cool nonetheless. Read more
Getting content to your HTPC
Well the most important thing about having a HTPC is having content, and being able to watch it through your HTPC on your TV! So here we will cover how to get content onto your HTPC.
The first thing to cover is getting TV through your HTPC. Some people have asked me why I would want to do this, since my TV can already receive TV. Well having it go through your HTPC allows you to use your HTPC as a PVR (a personal video recorder), which means you can record TV for playback later, or pause TV while you are watching it.
So how do you do this? Well it’s quite simple, all you need to do is put a TV tuner into your HTPC (see our TV Tuner section for recommendations). Then you just connect coaxial cable into the card (the cable that usually connects from your antenna to the TV), and you now have TV going into your HTPC.
Some people like to store all their other content on a big harddrive on their HTPC. But if you are anything like me you probably have a lot of your content (like movies, music, photos), on other computers around the house, you probably want to be able to access these on your HTPC. Read more