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[nigel150]

I am currently in my trial period for Media Center and I really dig the sound quality, but the user interface is sooooo dated and not intuitive. I wonder if there are plans to modernize the design, or are the developers really nostalgic for the way software looked years ago? Not trying to be insulting, just offering feedback on usability. As a Mac user, I'm used to a sort of elegance of design and usability. This to me looks like an old PC program. But, like I said, the sound is amazing.

[JimH]

Thanks for the encouragement.

Did you try the new skins?

[nigel150]

No I haven't. Will do that. Thanks.

[blgentry]

You might also like one of the FusionX series skins. Here's FusionX4 for example:

http://maverick07x.deviantart.com/art/JRiver-FusionX4-365712885

What you might not have considered yet is this:  MC is the longest running, continuously developed media player on the planet.  No other media player software has been around this long; they've all come and gone while MC continued on.  One of the reasons that MC has survived is that it has evolved, but it has not drastically changed itself just to "look new" or seem different.

One of the reasons that itunes is such an awful program is that it drastically changes every few versions.  What you knew before gets thrown out the window every few versions.  Features you liked and used are no longer available.  Browsing methods change.  Fundamental ways that you interact with the program are altered, added, or removed, at the whim of the developers, all so it will "look fresh and new".

MC doesn't do this.  MC keeps the fundamentals the same.  So you can keep using it, year after year, just like you always did.  Of course MC has an incredible amount of customization available too, so you can really make it your own.

Is MC easy to use out of the box?  In my opinion, it is NOT easy to use the very first time.  MC is a big, deep, rich application.  Sort of like AutoCAD or PhotoShop.  Neither of those programs are AT ALL easy to use the first time.  Yet they are some of the best programs of their types available and lauded by those in the know, year after year.

Big powerful software has a learning curve.  MC's curve isn't too steep, but there's definitely a curve.  Use MC for a month on the free trial.  If you still don't like it at the end of the month, maybe it's not for you.  But if you're like me, at the end of that month, you won't want to use anything else.

Brian.

[Awesome Donkey]

If you're using the latest build, it *should* be using the Modern Cards skin by default, which looks pretty good on the Mac.

[astromo]

... One of the reasons that MC has survived is that it has evolved, but it has not drastically changed itself just to "look new" or seem different.

One of the reasons that itunes is such an awful program is that it drastically changes every few versions.  What you knew before gets thrown out the window every few versions.  Features you liked and used are no longer available.  Browsing methods change.  Fundamental ways that you interact with the program are altered, added, or removed, at the whim of the developers, all so it will "look fresh and new".

MC doesn't do this.  MC keeps the fundamentals the same.  So you can keep using it, year after year, just like you always did.  Of course MC has an incredible amount of customization available too, so you can really make it your own.
...

Spot on mate.

Nothing infuriates me more than software developers presuming to know that I'll love an interface change (and I've heard this at one presentation for one software package - "the new interface takes less clicks"). Great. But I knew where it all was with the old GUI and I'd got used to its quirks.

I'm a fan of the JRiver approach. The change is incremental, so for those who want to be old dogs they can learn a new trick one trick at a time.

And you're right, the program has such depth. I learn new old stuff about it all the time. Thanks to the forum, a sensible question asked is usually answered quickly and it's useful.