Jeremy Charette
12-03-2005, 12:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1894297,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1894297,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Over the last year, and continuing for the next couple years, digital media on the PC has really started to take center stage. People actually care about video, music, and TV on their PCs. Managing all these things with a simple, intuitive interface that can be easily used from across the room has become more of a priority. Microsoft recognizes this, and as such it will no longer segregate MCE to its own SKU, destined for PCs masquerading as set-top boxes. With Windows Vista, the Media Center functions will be built into the "Home Premium" and "Ultimate" editions, which will probably quadruple its installed base in no time flat. We all know Windows Vista will cause a huge change in the way the desktop looks and feels, and MCE is getting a similar face-lift. Today, we take a look at some of these changes, from Windows Vista beta build 5231..."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/VistaMCEDisplaySelection.jpg" /> <br /><br />The Windows Vista MCE interface appears to be a merely evolutionary development, rather than revolutionary. The interface is more well thought out, and easier for most consumers to use, but I still don't think it has the instant appeal that the Tivo interface has. The Xbox 360 interface is so intuitive that even young children are able to figure it out. I was really hoping Microsoft would adopt a variant of the blade interface within Windows MCE, but the changes are much more subtle than that. As <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1884539,00.asp">John Dvorak</a> has pointed out, many commercial software products have failed in recent years because of "feature bloat". Witness the massive success of the iPod, with all it's limitations, and the failure of Rio, Creative, and Dell to unseat them in the Digital Audio Player marketplace, despite having technically superior products. I'm hoping that future releases of Windows Vista Beta will prove otherwise, but it appears that Microsoft's strategy is not significant product improvement, but rather market saturation.