Got Vista Ultimate Edition and a Windows Domain? If so read Mike Brown's blog post on how to get get Media Center working with the domain

Well with Vista out now I thought this could be useful for some users who also run a domain at home.  Vista Ultimate supports Windows Domains and Media Center and still allows fast user switching so extenders still work, so those of us with domains at home can take advantage of the added benefits of being a member of a domain and still enjoying all the features of Media Center.

Read on

One of the Microsoft products I saw at CES that I am really excited about is Windows Home Server. It has the potential to be a great product for the enthusiast, as well as the great backup/sharing/remote access features its a platform that developers can have a go with.

Dan Fernandez (Lead Product Manager for Visual Studio Express) has posted on his blog about the opportunities for Hobbyist developers. He points out that as its built on Windows Server technology (including IIS) and can run .net applications developers extend its function.

Read the blog for more details and have a listen to The Media Center Show #91 for more details on what home server can do.

I intend to talk more about Home Server in the future

Windows Home Server Management Add-ins
We’re also working with the WHS team to create Visual Studio Express Project Templates to create add-ins/snap-ins to the Home Server management interface for your own custom application, like a Home Automation management tool to be able to control your lights from anywhere.

As I mentioned on the blog before I have decided to install Windows Vista on my main Media Center PC. Unlike any other installations I have this is THE main box in the house that does all the TV recording and Media serving and having something not working on this box is not good for the WAF (wife acceptance factor)

The spec of the box is:

• Intel P4 3.2 HT
• 2gb RAM
• 300gb of storage
• 2 x Blackgold DVB-T TV tuner card

Before installing Vista I did some research and found that 2 PCI Blackgold TV tuner cards are not supported under Vista and since I did not want to go back to a single tuner I decided I would go for a new tuner card. Thanks to the list of tuner cards that is building up on The Media Center Show forums I picked on a Hauppage WinTV-NOVA-T-500 which is a single PCI card dual DVB-T tuner as I had some good reports in the forums on using this card with Vista. I also used Windows Vista upgrade adviser to make sure they would be no surprises when installing and this also picked out a problem with the Blackgold cards

I decided to do a clean install of Vista as my XP build had filled up with the usual rubbish that gets installed over time. The installation went very smoothly, I have installed Vista lots of times now and I am impresses by how little interaction is needed. I downloaded the Nova drivers for Vista from Hauppage's FTP site, unfortunately the drivers are part of a full install CD that you have to download, why do they do this? Just give me the drivers!

Once I had installed the drivers for the TV card and my LCD display everything was working. No need to find drivers for my FireWire card or chipset drivers which was nice!

When I ran Media Center for the first time I picked the Express Setup which allows you to use Media Center straight away and skips the TV setup. Once I made sure Media Center was working I ran the TV setup, which asks for your region (which defaults to Windows's installed region), and post code, then it downloads the guide data and scans for TV channels. The whole process seemed a lot quicker that it was under XP.

Next step was setting the XBox 360 up as an Extender. Again this is much simpler on Vista. Just turn on the Xbox and Media Center on the my pc prompted me for a setup code which I got from the Xbox. The Xbox then connected and ran Media Center.

The next job was to get the recorded TV content back in to Media Center. This was easy as I use a separate drive for Recorded TV and it was just a case of pointing Media Center to the folder on the other disk.

The other task I had was to restore my series record settings. Over time on XP I had built up a nice set of programs I like recorded and didn't want to re-enter them all. So I used my tool designed for this called mceBackup 2.0. I used mceBackup to backup my Media Center setting everyday on XP so all I needed to do was to install mceBackup on Vista and restore the backup and the job was done.

So Windows Media Center and the Extenders were all setup and all that was left was to install the reset of my usual applications, but I am making an effort to not fill this install with crap!

In all including swapping the cards the whole process took about 3 hours but most of the time was spent waiting and I am glad I made sure my TV card was sorted before installing

So if you thinking about upgrading and your hardware supports it, go for it!

I have a new give away on The Media Center Show community forums. Each week I will be giving away a copy of Pamaela Pro + mcePhone Bundle worth €19.90

I will be awarding the software to the post of the week. It could be for helping someone out or posting info of a your TV card config. So get posting!

Pamela for Skype adds some nice features to Skype: Call Recording,Video Recording,Answering Machine, Skype Podcasting  (see for HERE more details)

mcePhone for Skype allows you to seamlessly integrate Skype and Pamela in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
Once mcePhone is installed, you will be able to navigate and use Skype and Pamela seamlessly within the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 environment.

One of the most interesting things I saw at CES was the new Windows Media Center content in Vista, and the one I did like that the Sports Lounge, which is totally intergrated in to Media Center.  I did an interview with a ref on the Microsoft stand at CES but I haven't been able to review it myself as here in the UK it is not available.

So I was very please to see a review of it on Missing Remote, so if you want to know more read the review

If you're interested in sports, this application was designed with you in mind, and it does a very seamless job of incorporating your love of whatever sport into a sexy Vista MCE experience. So throw away your memories of the original Online Spotlight applications & their clunky, ugly interface, and prepare yourself for true integration

This week on the Extra show I continue my CES coverage. First is a look at the Gyration Remote Control that was on show at CES which is a great motion controlled remote control, it was the first chance I had to play with one and I must say I am impressed.
Then Ted Singh from Embedded Automation showed me around his booth at the show, including a demo of the Vista version of mControl, the home automation software for Windows Media Center.
I have one more CES show planned. If you have an suggestions for items I should feature on the show please head over to the community forum and let me know.

• Watch on Youtube
• Watch on MSN Soapbox
• Watch via WMV in HD

The Extra show has its own RSS feed and site now, so don't forget to subscribe

The Media Center Show #92 - CES Part 3

The Media Center Show #92 (MP3 - 11.5mb- 33mins 27secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

This is my final set of interviews from CES. This week on the show I interview Steven Cheung from Vidabox talking HD-DVD. Christoph Buenger author of mceWeather explains what he was doing at CES, Ted Singh from Embedded Automation talks home automation and about the winner of their Digital Home contest and finally Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital talks about their digital audio solutions.

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra, and see my CES videos Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:36 Coming up this week
01:21 Email - How to fix up your tags - Album Art fixer
02:44 Email - GPRocks.Net
04:02 List of TV Cards that work well or not so well with XP and Vista
05:20 The Media Center Show Extra CES Part 1, 2, and 3 , leave suggestion here
05:45 Vidabox Cablecard
06:07 A Message from Onevoice
07:02 A Chat with Steven Cheung from Vidabox
10:00 HD-DVD and upscaling
10:50 Christoph Buenger author of mceWeather
14:29 Ted Singh from Embedded Automation
15:00 mCentral
18:00 Vista version of mControl
21:40 Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital
22:20 AV Expander card
24:00 Media Center amplifier
25:57 Ted Singh returns to talk about the Digital Home contest
29:11 Visit the community site http://iandixon.co.uk/cs
29:28 Music by Ian Dixon

I promised a free copy of mNewsCenter to a random poster on The Media Center Show Community forums and I have been a little slow in catching up on this, so the first winner is Simon Worth, well done to Simon.

The next winner will be for the most helpful post of the week ;)

While US users of Media Center have been enjoying new Vista version of he Online Spotlight content over in the UK no such content had shown up.

Over on The Media Center Show forums I noticed that someone had spotted more content for the UK was here. BBC7, and others have been spotted, on my machine BBC News, ITN News, FunSpot. All seem to be old style HTML application which is a real disappointment, hopefully some MCML apps will show up around launch time to show off the potential of Vista Media Center  and the new style MCML applications

Embedded Automation have announced the winners of their Digital Home Contest, It's a contest they held to find innovative ways that mControl (Media Center Home Automation Software) has been used. I will have some info on this weeks Media Center Show as Ted Singh will be explaining more  but for now here are the details from their press release:

The mControl “Digital Home” Contest was open to all Embedded Automation’s mControl digital
home software users. Users were encouraged to present original or innovative ways that
mControl is being deployed within their digital home. Link Your House’s pioneering work to
provide a standardized digital home package for new home construction was a stand out from
other entries.
Link Your House is a Georgia, US-based home automation company which offers installation
and design of high quality home systems in both new construction and existing homes. Their
entry was based on their work on the new Carter Grove Plantation housing development in
Cartersville, Georgia. At Carter Grove, Link Your House is providing a standardized package as
an upgrade to the existing structured wiring system.

Continued at source

Vidabox have been mentioned on the show quite a few times recently and been featured on the Extra video show too.

They have just announced that they are supporting Cablecard as well as Blue-ray and HD-DVD.

VidaBox to offer all-in-one systems with CableCARD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD

GARDEN CITY, NY – January 23rd – VidaBox, a manufacturer of premium media center systems, is delighted to announce that it will be offering a new CableCARD option to its line of media center products.  With dual internal digital cable receivers, VidaBox CableCARD systems will not only feature integrated tuning for premium high definition digital content, but users can also add Blu-ray, HD DVD, and more than 3TB of RAID-5 protected storage.

"We're thrilled to be the only manufacturer to offer the latest in high definition - CableCARD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD - all in one box," said Steven Cheung, a co-founder of VidaBox.  "Integrated dual CableCARD systems are one step closer to having a true 'one box' entertainment solution.  Anyone can obtain a CableCARD from their cable television provider, insert it into their VidaBox, then start watching and recording dozens of premium HD digital channels (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, ESPN, Discovery, etc.)  All of our users can now experience up to 1080p playback, whether it be from their TV provider or a high-def video disc."

Continuing to be at the forefront of crystal clear and life-like video/audio playback, VidaBox CableCARD systems are engineered to allow a user to record two HD shows while playing back a third pre-recorded show, Blu-ray, HD DVD, high fidelity music, upscaled DVD, or digital picture slideshows.  High definition content recorded from CableCARD can also be streamed and played back on connected XBox 360 systems.

The new line of VidaBox media center systems with CableCARD are slated to ship March 2007

 

As I mentioned on the blog last week I am trying to build a list of TV cards that work or don't work well with Media Center. I have done this by creating a forum on the Media Center Show community site and I am asking readers / listeners to post your experiences with TV cards. Rather than going off manufactures specs I want real world experiences so if you haven't posted details of your TV card please head over to the forums and post your comments.

TV Card Forum

The Media Center Show Extra #7

This Extra show looks at Vidabox's HD-DVD Media Center Server with Steven Cheung, its the first time I have seen HD-DVD close us and I was impressed. Then in the 2nd part of the show I look at the new Vista version of TVTonic with Michael Sprague, it really makes good use of the new development platform of Vista Media Center. More from CES soon

Note the new RSS feed for The Media Center Show Extra

• Download WMV
• Watch on YouTube
• Watch on MSN Soapbox

Links from the show

• Vidabox
• TVTonic

The Media Center Show #91(MP3 - 10.2mb- 20mins 52secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

As you may have seen Microsoft are launching a new product called Windows Home Server and while at CES I got chance to interview Todd Headrick Product Planner from the Windows Home Server team. We chat about what Windows Home Server and what it can do for you, its especially interesting for anybody with more than one PC at home. I also interviewed Michael Sprague from TVTonic talking about the new Vista version of TVTonic.
Oh an I need your help with the a community list of hardware that works well with Media Center, starting with TV cards

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra, and see my CES videos Part 1 and Part 2 (coming soon)

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Checkout the newShow Times:

00:40 Coming up this week
01:40 See CES in the Media Center Show Extra , HP Touchsmart, HD-DVD, Sideshow
02:50 Community list of TV card hardware, I need your help
04:58 Big Screen Headlines update
05:20 New build of mceBackup 2.0
05:56 A message from Onevoice
06:46 Todd Headrick on Windows Home Server
07:51 What is Windows Home Server
10:00 Hardware designs
10:56 Free domain names
12:42 What you need at home
14:28 Backup and Restores
16:05 Pooled storage and folder duplication
17:45 Windows Media Connect
20:00 What is it based on?
22:10 Developer story
23:00 Time Frame
23:20 Michael Sprague from TVTonic
24:00 Streaming v downloading
24:51 Expected Content
25:10 Adding new feeds and the guide
25:38 Availability
25:57 Visit the community site http://iandixon.co.uk/cs

Music by Ian Dixon

There are various reports of new content appearing in Online Media on Windows Vista.

I haven't seen it yet but it looks like things are gearing up for launch!

If you haven't seen Media Center running on Vista before and want a simple introduction checkout the video on Microsoft's on10 site, and this video too

To any hardcore Media Center users its a little basic but for an introduction its a nice video

Jason Seuss sits down with Channel 10 and gives us all the info on the new announcements for Media Center. Media Center has matured a lot in the last year, now we can use digital inputs and extenders like an Xbox 360 to access your Media Center content.
We're going to meet up with Jason at CES this week to talk about some new Media Center partners so stay tuned.

Changes including:

• Works with non-English locals
• fixed the cancel problem in dialog boxes
• new install folders
• Full support for ATSC tuners
• atscprefs.xml and atscchannels.xml

Download from The Media Center Show Downloads

As you may have seen on my post "What TV Card should I get" I have been searching for a new TV card as my current config is not support on Vista, and the number of email I get asking "What card should I get" has prompted me in to creating a directory of hardware for Media Center.

First setup I have done is a section for TV cards. I want people to post there experiences good or bad in the TV Card Forums.

I would like you to post what model of TV card you have and whether it works well for you or not. Also what the install experience was like and if you know of any Vista compatibility issues.

That way when someone is searching for a new TV card they can go through the forum and look at real world experiences of the cards, which is going to be so helpful given a lot of people will be in my situation and looking for a Vista supported card.

I have posted my thoughts on the Blackgold DVB-T card I use please post your experience, and tell others. Let build up a useful resource!

http://iandixon.co.uk/cs/forums/26/ShowForum.aspx

One of the ways I record Skype chats for podcast on XP is to set Skype to use my headset mic as the input and the PC's sound card for the output so that with Adobe Audition I can record my voice and the guest voices and separate channels. It makes it much easier for editing and cleaning up of the audio files.

Since moving one of my machines over to Vista I noticed I couldn't find a way of recording the output of the PC sound card. In XP I would enable recording of the Wave Out Mix sometimes called "Stereo Mix". This was also useful to record sounds for the machine when I am doing screen captures.

In Vista I could not find the option to turn on this Mix so I thought it may have been removed in the new Sound stack, but after some searching I found that it hadn't been removed just hidden.

To enable the Wave Out mix:

1. Go to the Sound item in control panel
2. click on the Recording tab
3. Right click on the background of the tab and select "Show Disabled Devices"
4. find the Wave Out mix item and right click on it and select Enable
5. It will now show up as a device channel in application like Cubase and Audition 

So now you can capture audio from any program in Windows

Niall Ginsbourg has updated Big Screen Headlines to v0.8.4 this is one of my favorite applications at the moment and if you use it you will need the updated version as the old one will expire.

Go to Big Screen Headlines website  for more details