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Windows Media Center Overview and Benefits
Your entertainment, ready when you are
Windows Media Center is a feature in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista
Ultimate. It is an easy-to-use place to store all of your photos, music, and home
videos. Best of all, you can make Windows Media Center fill your screen, and navigate
through its menus using either a mouse and keyboard or a remote control.
Why is Windows Media Center better than what I'm using now?
Windows Media Center lets you combine the power of your PC with all your electronic
components, creating a superior connected home entertainment system.
Here are some of the many benefits of Windows Media Center:
Record TV with no monthly fee
With your PC and a TV tuner, you can record shows and movies from television at
no additional cost. There is no monthly fee to set up recordings of your favorite
programs to watch when you're ready. Windows Media Center makes it easy to get started
with personal video recording.
Use the smart, simple programming guide
Windows Media Center's Electronic Programming Guide (the Guide) lets you schedule
recordings of a single show or a whole series, as many as 14 days ahead. You can
search for programs by title, keyword, or genre, and even access the Movies Guide
to find out what's on next.
Get live HD programming from your PC to your TV
View your favorite shows live in HD quality (available only in the U.S.) over your
wired or wireless home network.1
Access and download digital entertainment from your PC to your TV.
Access your PC from any TV in your home
With an optional
digital cable tuner or cable tuner card and an
Extender for Windows Media Center, you can take advantage of the wide
range of digital entertainment-such as TV, music, photos and slides-available on
your PC in as many as five rooms in your house. Note: A cable TV tuner is
required only for streaming live television.2
Get remote control convenience
Access every feature of an Extender for Windows Media Center from any seat in your
home using a remote control. Navigate and choose from a streamlined, intuitive interface.
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Windows Media Center Features
What does Windows Media Center do?
Schedule show time on your own time
With Windows Media Center, TV time is whenever you say it is. With an optional TV
tuner, you can watch your favorite digital content in high definition (available
only in the U.S.)-with the ability to pause, rewind, and schedule recording for
later viewing at your convenience.1
Big, beautiful photos and videos
Windows Media Center makes it easy to view, organize, and share your memories with
friends and family. Look at photos or watch videos on your PC monitor, or on the
most important screen in your house: your television.
Make any room a media room
Take Windows Media Center to the next level and enjoy your favorite live and recorded
TV shows, movies, music, and pictures on TVs throughout your home with remote control
convenience using an Extender for Windows Media Center.
Music that's easy to find and play
Your music takes center stage with Windows Media Center and the music library displays
the cover art for each album and song you own.
Diverse online entertainment
Windows Media Center's online services includes SportsLounge (U.S. and Canada only),
where you can get the latest scores, stats, and upcoming televised game dates of
your favorite teams. Online Media offers name-brand entertainment for you to watch
and download. The Internet TV Beta (U.S. only) lets you watch television and video
programs on demand.
Note: A TV tuner is not required for Internet TV, but is required to access
SportsLounge (U.S. and Canada only).
Enjoying live and recorded HDTV
(U.S. only) may require additional equipment, including but not limited to an HD
compatible tuner and TV or other display.
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Windows Vista: Compare editions
No matter what you do with a PC, Windows Vista can make a big difference. Now updated
with Service Pack 1, your
choices keep getting better and better. Here's a quick look at what comes in each
of the editions.