I do think Vista Media Center is a great improvement over MCE 2005, but it
does need to realize the modern reality that people now have large digital
libraries of video, music, and pictures. Apple TV has a good way to purchase
new media, as well as integration with podcasting and the iTunes store.
Looking at the default options in VMC, I would upgrade it to have the
following:
Main Menu:
Pictures + Videos - stuff I took with my camera
*More Pictures - browse shared images on the network if you have a home
network
*Picture Library - browse your image library
*Video Library - browse your home videos
*Search - find an image based on tags or on date taken
Games - mini-games for use within Media Center, kind of like Mario
Party-style or iPod game style games
*More Games - buy or download for free new games from the game market
*Game Library - pick a game from the ones you now own.
*Play random - picks a game at random
Now Playing + Playlists
*Playlists - tv, movie, and music playlists here, sortable by type
(tv/movie/music)
*Now Playing - currently playing media and what's in queue
*Create Playlist - create a playlist of media, tv, music, movies, or all mixed
TV - watch, record, playback, purchase
*Explore - free TV shows from content providers with advertisements. So if
NBC allows you to watch a show online, you can click 'NBC', then the show
name, and go watch it, streaming.
*More TV - similar to iTunes, but allows you to browse through available
shows, purchase them, see clips, etc. within VMC. You can subscribe to a
show (purchase a season pass), and as new episodes come out, they download
for you and show up as 'new' in your TV library
*TV Library - just like music library, organized by show, season, then
episode. When viewing a series, you can 'play all' to play the whole series
from start to finish (no interruption to 'delete'). When viewing a season,
you can 'play season' to play the whole season immediately. Underneath this
'play all/season' you would see 'add to queue' to put the
series/season/episode into the now playing playlist.
This is viewed as banners, thumbnails, or DVD covers.
*Internet TV - see the channels you subscribed to online, like RTL or Japan
TV, and get new channels here too.
*Search - search for a show based on actor, director, writer, keyword from
the description, year, etc. in your library. If the library sees episodes
missing, they will appear in the library grayed out, but over the thumbnail,
you see 'purchase this episode' or 'complete this season of x-show.'
Movies - watch, rip, purchase movies
*More Movies - find and purchase movies online through the Zune Marketplace,
integrated as a Media Center experience. Search by actor, year, title,
keyword, genre, director, series, etc.
*Movie Library - browse your movie collection purchased/saved to your hard
drive as DVD covers, view information, and 'add to queue' to play a series of
movies back-to-back.
*Search - find a movie based on rating, length, actor, director, series,
year, genre, etc.
Music - play albums, artists, years, etc. like in media player
*Settings - here you can check your albums to make sure the album art is
correct, etc.
*More Music - music store to purchase music, with recommendations based on
your current library.
*Music Video Library - view/sort music videos by title/artist/genre, etc.
In the details view, you can see either 'purchase album' or 'play album' if
you own the album that video comes from. Otherwise, you can 'add to queue'
to add to the now playing list.
*Music Library - sort by album, artist, etc.
*Play All - plays all music
*Radio - if you have a radio tuner on the PC, you can hear those station here.
*Internet Radio - if a station streams online, it will show here
*Search - find music in your library. After searching, if there is a new
album by, say, the Cardigans, a link under the library will show "Buy the new
Cardigans album 'Erase and Rewind'" which takes you to the music store to try
it out and purchase it.
Podcasts - get your podcasts organized here
*Settings - change when to delete podcasts, when to download, etc.
*More Podcasts - get more podcasts from the online directory of
*Podcast Library - view downloaded podcasts by name (thumbnail view)
*Download Status - see what is downloading and what's in queue to download
*Search - find a podcast
Sports - same as now. I don't really use it much.
Online Media - find new plug-ins and mini-games, etc. Kind of like games
for iPod, since a Media Center is supposed to be a social computer.
*More Programs - search online database for new miniprograms for VMC. Most
are free, 50 cents, or 99 cents
*Program Library - mini-programs you downloaded
*Explore - internet based content based on your preferences (tv, movies,
music you own), by content providers
*Learn How - how to do things within VMC
Tasks - backend tasks to add content, change settings, etc.
*Settings - change settings for menus, how content is arranged, etc. You
can change TV Series backgrounds to cast photos, for example.
*Shutdown
*Burn CD/DVD - create your own music or video CD/DVD. Pick from content in
your library,
*Sync - add podcasts, shows, music to your portable media player
*Add Extender - Media Center finds and configures your Media Extender on the
network
*Add Network Storage - VMC finds a network storage device and integrates it
into your library. If your files there aren't tagged, you can choose to tag
them as well.
*Codecs - view/add codecs to the media center. You can see how many files
require a given codec.
*Media Only - locks computer into VMC for use while you've got company
That's how I'd arrange and upgrade Vista Media Center. If something's
unclear, let me know.
James
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