Windows 7 Media Center Review

that will turn an ordinary PC into a TV-friendly media center. From MythTV and Freevo for chronic TV recorders, to Boxee and XMBC for Hulu and YouTube fanatics, any machine can morph into a set-top box with the right software aboard.

But for total integration with an OS, Windows Media Center has been hard to beat. The large-print, remote-friendly interface for Windows started off as an offshoot from Windows XP, grew into its own with Windows Vista, and has taken on an even more impressive suite of features with Windows 7. While we ran the new OS through a slew of benchmarks, testing and performance comparisons for our Windows 7 Road Test, we didn’t have a chance to fully poke and prod all the new Media Center features Microsoft has slid in along with its other updates. So without further ado, here’s what Windows 7 brings to the scene, and some of our own impressions from toying with the impressive new tool.

Internet Video, Take Two

Or as Microsoft calls it, “Internet Video, Beta 2.” Microsoft technically introduced the feature as Beta 1.1 with Vista, but it has revamped access to this content with Windows 7. While the categories (News, sports, movies, etc.) will look familiar, the menu system has changed to deliver a fuller overview of all options. Main categories, for instance, no longer spread across the top of the screen in an outrageously large type size that pushes non-selected items to the very periphery of the screen, and the side-scrolling effect has been done away with. The result may be less artistic and striking, but seeing all options right from the start makes finding what you want significantly easier.

Unfortunately, the selection of content (culled from MSDN) remains as it always has been – rather weak. Although we found full episodes of Arrested Development and a few other gems, the majority of the content remains in clips, putting it far behind providers like Hulu. Microsoft also conveniently continues to snub Google-owned YouTube as a rich source for content.

Windows 7 Internet Video

Turbo Scroll

Nothing’s more annoying than sorting through a list of 2,458 titles when all you have to work with is a back and forth button, which is why Microsoft has developed Turbo Scroll. Hold that scroll button down and titles start flying by – until they turn into a quite literal blur. Fortunately, it’s an intentional visual effect, and Microsoft layers over a couple letters from each entry on the whizzing list going by to clue you in as to when it might be time to stop. It works with both media loaded on the server, and other obtuse lists, like days’ worth of TV listings.

Windows 7 Turbo Scroll

The Fade

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. Windows Media Center takes it a step further with a classier technique, which lays whatever you’re watching over the menu system in a semi-transparent gradient as you perform other tasks. 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. Unfortunately, Media Center still reverts to picture-in-picture for some crowded menus that just weren’t built to have a additional video layered over them (like the Internet TV browser).