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[robertc65]

I have been trying to build an HTPC for some time now but have not quite founf the perfect GUI for display on my TV. I discovered Media Center for the 1st time last night and at first though that this would be my solution. Allthough I feel that Media Center is the best in it's class as an overall solution for PC use the ability to use the hairstyle mode as a wife friendly GUI is only something that a seasoned programmer would be able to accomplish. Is there any plans in the future to make this feature something that a non-programmer would be able to configure and use. I have played around with MYHTPC.net and it comes a bit closer but is still a work in progress. I think from what I've read that alot of people out there would love to have something like WindowsXP MCE without contributing to the Bill Gates retirement fund.

[Matt]

Does your wife have specific issues you could list?

My wife uses Hairstyle all the time and likes it so much she even shows it to friends...

[Monkeyboy]

Does your wife have specific issues you could list?

My wife uses Hairstyle all the time and likes it so much she even shows it to friends...

hehe, my girlfriend has started doing this, good for your business  
Rich

[robertc65]

Well I have to 1st admit that it's not just my wife that can't seem to use the Hairstyle mode. I think I may just need some help understanding how this is supposed to work. When entering Hairstyle mode I can easily browse to say an AVI movie clip and start it playing in the small window in the top left hand corner. What I want to do is to see the movie play in full screen mode just by clicking on it. The only way I can do it now is to toggle between Hairstyle, Internal and fullscreen using F11. This works but it's a bit clumpsy for the wife. Toggling between Hairstyle and Fullscreen without having to go flash through internal mode would be a lot better. I want a may to keep the screen locked into hairstyle mode. As soon as it escapes to the windows interface the wifr and kid will never be able to figure out how to get back to the hairstyle menu. Am I just missing something here?

Thanks in advance

Rob C.

[Matt]

Try MC 10 beta instead of 9.  Hairstyle is nicer.

Also, the "Menu" key switches into and out of Hairstyle without going full circle. (the key between the right alt and ctrl)

[Jaguu]

What should a wife do with a black screen at the end of a slide show?
Right clicking on a black screen takes just too much brain power!

[DWAnderson]

See my specific comments on HS in the 10.030 beta thread (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=18276), which reprise some thoughts in several other threads.

Some more general thoughts:

As you will note from my comments in the above beta thread, the two keys for me are the ability to limit what is shown in a customizable way so that I can run portions of MC from another front end, e.g from myHTPC. As great as MC is at what it does, there are some things that will always be done better by other apps. Therefore, in addition to offering a comprehensive solution for those who want it, MC should also integrate well will into front ends that are used to access multiple apps. It doesn't do that now, and MC is such a great engine for cataloging and playing media files that it kills me!

It seems like J River has already done the hard part by making a relatively stable, powerful media database, manipulation and playback engine. If you made the suggested improvements to the HS interface, I really think you could become a must-own app for those operating a HTPC.

I hope this is helpful.

Doug

[Griff]

What should a wife do with a black screen at the end of a slide show?

or a vedio or dvd.

I have been seeing a lot of people complaining about this.

So here is some history.

79   General / Media Center 9 / Re: Media Center 9.0.145 available here  on: April 08, 2003, 05:06:37 PM  
Started by Matt, Message by Griff
Quote:
18. Fixed: Media Center was creasing while stoping video playback.
19. Fixed: Media Center was not displaying some video files with correct aspect ratio
 


Fixed.

What happen to Hairstyle??

Last used 9.0.133

Now-- When playing a video or a slide show, I end up with a black screen at the end. It use to go back to the Hairstyle menu.

?

Griff
     
 

and

78   General / Media Center 9 / Re: Media Center 9.0.145 available here  on: April 08, 2003, 05:58:41 PM  
Started by Matt, Message by Griff
Thanks Matt

Quote:
It's still there
 


Yes, that was easy to figured out.

Quote:
It just doesn't automatically popup -- too many people thought that was annoying
 


I can see the point, on a pc monitor.

But, when running Hairstyle on a TV with a remote, this was a nice feature.
(looping back to Hairstyle , when done.)

Pic. this.
You have a house full of company, everyone is playing with Hairstyle (Videos (Mp2) and slideshow).

Now you run out of beer (Ha Ha) and have to get more.

These people end up with a black screen.

Think they are going to know to hit the Hairstyle button on the remote? or which one it is?

Arrows are easy for people to navigate with.

My moto: User friendly and remote without Tech. manual.

I guess there is no way to please everybody.

Such is life.

Have a great night.

Griff

 

[sraymond]

Does your wife have specific issues you could list?

My wife uses Hairstyle all the time and likes it so much she even shows it to friends...

Hey...  I like this.  A "my wife is better than your wife" thread.  Who said this wasn't a *family* forum?  

Scott-

P.S.  I vote for a jump back to Hairstyle.  You can do very little with Full-Screen when there's nothing playing.

[robertc65]

Yes I agree. At the end of a movie clip, Slide show or Playlist I would like to be returned to hairstyle mode.
I like to use TIVO as a bench mark. We got TIVO about a month ago. My wife was able to setup shows to record, watch the shows and even return to watching live TV without any help from me. This simple functionality seems so basic to me. Most software however misses the mark. To do something as simple as play a video, or view some photos should not require any technical know how other than being able to use the arrow keys and the enter key. Hell you could even thow in the escape key. And by the way my wife is the best. She's just not real technical.

[NoCodeUK]

I agree with a return to HS too.  I don't have a wife for it to confuse but I am sure it would if I did

Adam

[PhatPhreddy]

I can not see any reason on earth why looking at a black screen would be preferable to looking at the menu choices to play more media ??

[robertc65]

Hey I have an idea. Does anyone have a wife that writes code. Let her take a crack at building a frienly intuitive Hairspay GUI.

I downloaded the beta last night and as mentioned in previous posts I agree it is way better than the released version.

It seems that many people like the idea of Hairspray returning to the menu.