Windows MC desktop gadget
Don’t want to open a gigantic Windows Media Center window just to see if there’s anything new worth watching? No worries. Microsoft’s new Windows Media Center desktop gadget feeds a constant stream of content to a discreet corner of your desktop, including Internet TV content you’ve already shown an interest in, and freshly recorded shows picked up from a tuner. When something catches your eye, just click, view more details in an expanded gadget tab, click again, and it’s playing.
Holy Album Covers, Batman!
If you have a 42-inch display connected to your stereo, chances are you don’t just want it to sit there and look lame while you’re pumping music. Windows 7 Media Center ups the ante a bit by scrolling a massive grid of cover art around in the background as you play music or browse your collection. Missing some cover art? Most peoples’ collections are, which is why the new Media Center now does a better job covering it up by mixing up the background colors on the automated covers it generates in place of a real one. A small fix, but it looks far more subtle than a patchwork of mostly blue squares.
Windows 7 Media Center new album cover layout
Play Favorites
Don’t have time to pick a specific artist or slideshow to stick up on the TV? Both the music and pictures categories now have a “Play Favorites” option that instantly retrieves your past favorites (as the name implies) and puts them up on the screen. While the music version displays the same graphics you could typically expect, the photo version uses a new effect called Ambient Slideshow. OK, it’s a glorified screensaver, but it looks great. Your photos show up as a busy patchwork of desaturated, white-rimmed prints, then slowly come to life in color as the screen pans over them.
Windows 7 Media Center play favorites option
Tweaked Interface
Media center software is all about ease of access – after all, if you wanted to click through 10 different menus just to play a movie, you could just use the standard desktop. Fortunately, Windows 7 makes a range of improvements to the overall ebb and flow of the system, not to mention cleaning up and improving graphics. Pressing to the right or left while video is playing brings up a synopsis of a television program, not to mention commonly used features (like zoom) that used to require additional hunting. Mouse-and-keyboard users can even click and drag on video progress bars to skip forward or back in the programming, and a tiny thumbnail will appear above to preview where the drag will bring you in the footage. It’s a small feature, but one that’s been long missing until now.
Windows 7 Media Center's improved graphics
Wrapping Up
Windows Media Center 7 has us itching to build a home theater PC worse than ever – and with the improved performance of the new OS, the hardware requirements for what we can get by with have dropped, as well. Though its DVR capabilities remain robust, it continues to lag behind in the rapidly expanding realm of Internet TV, where competitors like Boxee still deliver a far superior selection of content. However, additions from Microsoft itself as well as third-party plugins (like SecondRun.tv) could easily bring it up to speed, and we suspect it will remain a strong contender for future HTPCs when Windows 7 officially rolls out in October.
For more on Windows 7 check out our articles: Experts Review Windows 7, Recommend You Upgrade and Windows 7 Upgrade Guide: Everything You Need to Know.
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