[dayglored]

I didn't have much use for Media Center myself, having a small music recording studio in my home, and no TV. But there were surely a number of folks who did make use of the features.... any of my fellow FReepers among them?

[dayglored]

Windows Media Center goes the way of all... digital flesh? ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: search on keyword "windowspinglist".

[GeronL]

People will still be able to watch their recorded videos and music without Media Center, right? Or, maybe that is why its being discontinued, because they DID?

[ETL]

Windows Media Center is different than Windows Media Player, isn’t it? WMP stands alone with no necessary connection to the internet. They rarely if ever offer updates for it. So we should be able to continue using it to play our stored videos and music, correct?

[right way right]

That’s why we wait.

[ETL]

Never mind! Tanks anyway. :)

“We can confirm that due to decreased usage, Windows Media Center will not be part of Windows 10.”

[kingu]

I used media center extensively for a number of years; I'll certainly miss the feature, but upgrading a working system to a new version of the OS which only uses the internet to download television listings was more than a bit excessive.

With the advent of smart tvs, however, there's much less of a ‘need’ for a media center version of Windows. And to get media center working on 8 required too many hoops to leap through.

All in all, I think there's still a big hole in the market that Roku, Apple TV, etc have utterly missed and there's still room in the market for a media box for tvs. But to do it right would require a mountain of cash and a corral of lawyers.

[Em and Brets Mum]

I will miss it. It’s been amazingly convenient to watch LIVE TV right on my computer, courtesy of Windows Media Center. And, thanks to TCM, I have recorded over 1,000 movies from the Windows Media Center “TV” to DVDs (using Windows DVD Maker), creating quite an extensive library of classic movies.

Yes, I will miss it.

[FredZarguna]

It's not Windows Media Player that's being discontinued. That is still in Windows 10, which I am looking at in a VM right now.

Windows Media Center was for playing live TV through your desktop system with a tuner card. It had some serious performance issues, and while tolerable, did not ever really live up to its promise.

[upchuck]

Perhaps MSFT got tired of competing with all the FREE players out there dancing circles around Media Player.

I have yet to find a digital format that cannot be played with VLC.

[killermosquito]

I use it everyday to listen to fox news radio while at work

[sevlex]

It’s a MAJOR disappointment. I have a htpc running win7 and use media center as a dvr. My biggest concern is when will MS drop the program guide. When that goes the utility of the dvr dies.

Fortunately, Silicon Dust may have a replacement in the near future. Meanwhile, when it’s time to upgrade the htpc, Windows will likely be discarded for Linux.

[Gideon7]

Windows 10 is the Future. /sarc

[daniel1212]

We can confirm that due to decreased usage, Windows Media Center will not be part of Windows 10.

At $99.99 to upgrade to the W/8/1 Pro Pack and Windows Media Center then it is no wonder they see decreased usage!

[adorno]

Microsoft stopped development and maintenance on Media Center around 2009, so, what people have been using is a relic, which MS allowed in Windows 7, but only in the Pro version; so people needed to upgrade to Windows 7 Pro to get it.

There are alternatives out there.

For example: Kodi

[trebb]

Not to worry for those who still want it - there are apps being developed every day and I’d wager that there will be some free ones that do a good job and some that cost but do a really good job.

[dennisw]

Windows 8 there was no Media Center. Not exactly new news