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Playing Windows Media Center Edition Video on Regular XP
If you have a Windows Media Center Edition PC, it may frustrate you to no end that you are unable to move your video from that PC onto another one. Unlike the very good MythTV for Linux (free), and SnapStream's Beyond TV 3 for Windows (not free) Microsoft does not use standard AVI format for its videos, intentionally making it harder to transport them. This is, of course, because Microsoft is so intent on getting in bed with the entertainment industry that they will do pretty much anything asked of them by these big corporations. But, I digress. If you, like I, believe that you should have the freedom to view video that you have recorded on your PVR on any capable device, just as you can tape something on VHS and watch it in a different VHS player, give the free My Movies XP from VOXU a try. It's a simple download that you can run on another computer on your network, which will access the videos on your MCE machine. It has a very Media Center-like interface to allow you to browse and watch your shows.
[via The Red Ferret Journal]
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsEagle117Aug 15th 2005 4:23PM
With one of Microsoft's Windows Updates you are able to view MCE videos on another computer that is running other versions of XP. This isn't the only way to do it.
Dustin MillerAug 11th 2005 8:56PM
Sorry, but that's just wrong. Windows XP users can play dvr-ms files with any software DVD decoder installed, unless the broadcaster marked the file with a copy protection flag.
As for MS being "in bed" with anyone, of course they want to woo the entertainment industry. That's why you can rent/download movies legitimately from Cinemanow and Movielink on Windows, and play those on any of several "Plays For Sure" devices that play video content. Can MythTV claim that it's RIAA or MPAA lawsuit-proof? Can BeyondTV? No, and that means an uncertain future, and a hard-to-predict longevity.
JerryAug 11th 2005 9:15PM
Perhaps it's just the latest version of MCE, because I have the older version, and can play my vids on any computer with the newest version of Windows Media Player installed(the one that supports dvr-ms). Granted, they're so insanely large that you wouldn't want to, but it is possible.