Well here we are again, another upgrade under the belt and quite a few changes to our structure as a result of a wider range of HTPC platform coverage.
I decided to include other Media center options a few weeks ago after the Vista TV Pack upgrade not only trashed my Vista MC system, but frankly disappointed me on many levels. I believe that Microsoft have had plenty of time to deliver a state of the art Media Center platform, especially considering that for years now, they've practically owned that space. Instead, and in my opinion, they've failed their customer base by once again not really listening to what we need, but worse, by deciding that the TVP "upgrade" would be OEM only, leaving possibly tens of thousands of loyal customers in the lurch with no option but to either pay for it, or obtain it illegally.
The final straw for me was the continued listing of the TVP torrent through their newly acquired TGB forum, an action which they stated was due to their policy of "non-interference", but which I believe was the absolute pinnacle of hypocrisy. Had the same thing been done here only a few months earlier, or at one of the many other Windows-centric sites around the world, we would have undoubtedly received a C&D notice instructing us to remove the link, and no doubt our MVP status would have been brought into question.
Around that time I saw a post here by ExtremePC pointing to a Youtube video of the new Mediastream skin for XBMC, and given that my system was in tatters anyway, I installed Ubuntu, followed by XMBC and gave it a run. Whist it's not without the odd bug, it is simply so far in advance of the Vista MC interface that it's still driving my lounge room pc as I write this. Of course it will probably never offer live TV functionality in it's own right, but there is already a MythTV interface which whilst a little buggy at the moment, we should see a transparent "combined" solution in the not too distant future. Regardless, since I have Foxtel anyhow, live TV is well covered. As for the rest, watching my movies & TV shows is a totally different experience.
Now I admit that this path is not for everybody, and by that I mean dragging their butts into a Linux box and the associated learning curve, and there's no guarantee that I will stay with it permanently, but then when I read that the XBMC team were simultaneously developing Windows & Mac versions, well frankly it made me ask, if a small group of unpaid volunteers can achieve so much so quickly, what the hell are Microsoft playing at with their practically lilmitless resources and all the technology at their disposal?
So I raised the idea with the Moderators, and after several rounds of spirited discussion, I made the decision to widen our coverage whilst staying true to our Windows foundations.
Of course there's been no reduction in our coverage of Windows Media Center, in fact it's even grown a little with the inclusion of a small Media Portal presence and a separate Windows networking support forum. The big changes of course are the introduction of Linux, XBMC and closed box PVR forums which required an overhaul of our forum structure. Whilst I'm sure that there will be some amongst us who will not enjoy the extra scrolling to be able see all the content, and to you guys I apologise in advance, however I really believe that our coverage must evolve, and that means providing the widest possible Media Center support to help us keep pace with the ever expanding home entertainment landscape.
To compliment the changes, I've created a new entry page for the site, and whilst it's no big deal to all the "forum-only" junkies, it will hopefully offer a more professional look to our new arrivals. You may also have noted that I've reverted our name to "Australian Media Center Community" which I feel is far more appropriate given our wider coverage.
I've spent a long time today scouring the forums and moving content around, and even so we still have a couple of forums which are empty, but clearly when trying to cover nearly 4 years of posting there'll be so much that I've missed. So in addition to the usual bug reporting, I'd be grateful if you spot a thread (not individual post) which is now in the wrong forum, if you could click the "report post" icon
(bottom left under the poster's avatar) and suggest where it belongs, it will go a long way to ensuring that we have everything in its proper place. Please be sure to use only the first post in the thread when notifying and not a single post 2 or 3 pages in as I'm trying to ensure that the initial topic is the deciding factor when moving content around.
Thanks for your patience, and I hope you come to enjoy all the new topics which will no doubt start to appear shortly.
Time for a sleep and then watch Manly open a can of wupass on the Storm! (BTW, I'm not a Manly fan but they are a Sydney team!!
)
Mike
Re: Open for business again!
