Microsoft Drops Certification for TV Tuner and WMC Remote Control and Receiver Hardware
As if Microsoft hadn’t already made it clear enough that they don’t have any interest in developing Windows Media Center further, along comes word that Microsoft has discontinued one more avenue of WMC support. Microsoft has been updating the Windows Hardware Certification Kit ahead of the release of Windows 8 and in the latest Windows Logo Newsletter Microsoft has announced that they have retired the TV Tuner and Windows Media Center Remote Control and Receiver hardware certification tests from the Windows HCK. From the sounds of things, manufacturers can still certify tv tuners and remote controls as class devices, but there’s no more separate category or direct WMC connection.
If you needed another sign that Microsoft has all but abandoned Windows Media Center then there is the news that Microsoft have updated the Windows Hardware Certification kit and retired the TV Tuner and Windows Media Center Remove Control tests.
That is a real loss.
That is a real loss.
It would be interesting to
It would be interesting to here from some of the people that work for the as mentioned hardware vendors and see if this is really a big deal or just a way to save some money for Microsoft…
Techbutton wrote:It would be
[quote=Techbutton]
It would be interesting to here from some of the people that work for the as mentioned hardware vendors and see if this is really a big deal or just a way to save some money for Microsoft…
[/quote]
It isn’t a big deal–at all. And no different than W7 to be honest…there wasn’t a category to get certified for Windows Update there either.
I am happy with the WMC
I am happy with the WMC system I have, but if MS isn’t going to be serious about developing further I hope some other company steps in.
I wonder how this affects the
I wonder how this affects the use of cablecard tuners with Windows 8 and beyond? Maybe now we’ll start seeing some development in making cablecard tuners compatible with third party front-end apps like XBMC or JRiver.
I thought I heard rumors that they’re working on a TV app for XBMC, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part. I’d love to see such an app with a cablecard patch similar to what came out for SageTV just prior to its unfortunate demise. It only worked with unflagged channels, but since I’m on FIOS it worked with every channel I recorded from.
Unless XBMC or JRiver pay for
Unless XBMC or JRiver pay for Cable Labs certifications it is pretty much a pointless feature to add because outside of FIOS, majority of cable operators flag channels.
And sadly, at least here in
And sadly, at least here in Northern VA, FiOS is going to start flagging channels this month — at least according to the letter they sent me in the mail last week.
In the latest Release Preview
In the latest Release Preview of Windows 8, Microsoft have gone out of their way and disabled the ability to boot directly to Windows Media Center — a feature required for any HTPC.
Yea but, as long as there is
Yea but, as long as there is a startup folder, Run command in the registry or even changing the windows default “shell” that really is not an issue.
In the first preview release, it was there but, when you started up the computer, Media center would only start in the background. No way to fix… I’m sure that is why they changed it. Instead of fixing it, they just removed the feature.
I don’t understand why
I don’t understand why Microsoft are killing off WMC. Google and Apple are making the TV screen the next battleground, while Microsoft already has a head start.