Windows media center pc review

Windows Media Center and even most cheapo cable boxes with guides have always allowed you to browse while you watch TV with picture-in-picture style video playing beside menus. Besides scoring some definite style points, the new way of cutting away from active video leaves it much larger, making it much easier to watch when you actually divert your eyes from the menu. No worries. Holy Album Covers , Batman! Windows 7 Media Center ups the ante a bit by scrolling a massive grid of cover art around in the background as you play music or browse your collection.

Missing some cover art? A small fix, but it looks far more subtle than a patchwork of mostly blue squares. While the music version displays the same graphics you could typically expect, the photo version uses a new effect called Ambient Slideshow.

Your photos show up as a busy patchwork of desaturated, white-rimmed prints, then slowly come to life in color as the screen pans over them. Media center software is all about ease of access — after all, if you wanted to click through 10 different menus just to play a movie, you could just use the standard desktop.

Fortunately, Windows 7 makes a range of improvements to the overall ebb and flow of the system, not to mention cleaning up and improving graphics. Free download and install Player 6. Run the program and choose PC or TV mode.

Here takes PC as example. Feel free to get the alternative Windows media center download for free! First click the Movies button, then the Add Now, you will see all your movie files displayed by poster wall on the profile window. This will help you fast access the movie you are going to watch. If you want to manage your music files in an organized way, just click Music button in the left pane and add your music files to the local library. Just locate your wanted movie or music, and click the Play button.

You will be taken to the play interface. This media player will present you with high quality image. Up to till now, you have known top five Windows media replacements and mastered how to use one of the best alternatives to Windows 10 media center software, DVDFab Media Player. All five alternatives are good in their own ways but we are using DVDFab Player 6 currently, and it has been working really well, and we never felt trying out some other media center tool.

By the way, many people around the world might say that sitting in front of the TV or watching movies is an act of wasting time. But entertainment is very important to keep the mind relaxed, and always ready to work with fresh mind. When watching your favorite movies or shows, you actually release stress from your mind that impacts positively on you and that improves your overall performance in your work as well.

That is why you must entertain yourself. And, if you are a PC guy, this article is for you since it lists the best Windows Media Center replacement which you can use to play and organize your media files. Are you looking for the best free Blu ray player for Windows 10 to play your Blu-ray movies with best viewing experience? This post lists the top 8 best Blu ray player software Windows programs for your option and shows how to play Blu rays on Windows 10 free and easily with the best free Blu ray player software, DVDFab Player 6.

Bluray burner review. This article aims to give you a picture of top 10 best Blu ray Burners that can burn Blu-rays easily and quickly for home playback. Are you looking for the best free DVD player for Windows 10? Watching DVDs on Windows 10 free and easily will be stirring and cost-effective. This post has collected and analyzed the best 16 Windows 10 DVD player software for you option. Read on for more information and take your best pick.

How do I remove copy protection from DVDs? With the increasing popularity of ripping DVD to digital for mobile playback, DVD copy protection removal software have emerged. Despite endless DVD rippers in the market, we might be confused about which one to choose from, and what is the best DVD copy protection removal for personal use. No worries! This post aims to offer you the best solution to removing copyright from DVDs you've purchased for personal use.

Upscale video from p to p, or from p to 4K with AI. Free Download. DVDFab Learn More. In fact, most of the major cable providers have cloud based DVR solutions which allow you to record six or more shows at once and view it in any room or on any device in your home.

Of course TiVo is another option for watching and recording copy once protected content. In the event you are using Windows Media Center to view and record copy free content, you have many more choices. ClearQAM and OTA broadcasts are treated the same as copy free since these types of content do not have any copy protection.

But you will be losing Windows Media Center. I personally have tried this method but was not entirely successful. While none of the alternatives are as good as WMC in my opinion, there are a few Windows Media Center alternatives out there that have quite a following of their own. For instance, Hauppauge supplies WinTV with their products.

It is best to try out several alternatives in advance before deciding to upgrade to Windows Make sure the software installs properly and works correctly with your TV tuner. It is also advisable to see if the software will be compatible with Windows If the software works with Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Non-copy protected content can be converted from the WTV format to other common formats that can be played on many devices. There are numerous free and paid software programs that can convert WTV files into many other file formats. Obviously, copy protected WTV files cannot be converted or played due to licensing restrictions. Once Windows Media Center is gone you cannot watch any previously recorded copy once content.

Read the previous sentence again and carefully consider how upgrading will impact your video collection. If you access Windows Media Center from other rooms through the use of an WMC extender, your new software solution will need to contain a TV server as well. Once again, you will need to do your research before advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade. If you have a device such as this one, you will need to find another solution for connecting to your host PC.

This is not a big issue technically; but it does create additional costs for you to incur. And of course you may decide to ditch the home theater PC altogether and rent equipment from your TV provider or purchase a stand-alone DVR device such as a TiVo as previously mentioned. In the event you want to upgrade to Windows 10, I have some suggestions that you should keep in mind. As with any upgrade, you should make a full backup of your computer system.

Use Windows 7 Backup and Restore to make a system image of your entire Windows installation.