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[raym]

I thought that some people might be interested in taking a look at what changes MS is proposing for Vista's MCE. Here's the full article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=71

Here's some of the things I liked:

The keypad-like search function:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=70&page=13

Context menus at full-screen:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=70&page=19

Burn/Tag/Edit and Save Playlist functions:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=70&page=14

Widescreen Media Searching (maximises screen real-estate)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=70&page=12
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=70&page=17

Now, I've never been much of an MCE fan. I do like HTPC's though and all the benefits they can bring to one's "digital life". As an avid JR MC fan, I've been extremely happy with the latest improvements to Theater View. It's fast, easy to use and most importantly, it has MC at the core. Moving forward though (MC13??) I wonder if one day I'll be able to do the sort of things MCE is trying to encourage people to do in their living rooms with nothing more than a remote control? Things like:
a) rip a cd
b) tag / change / delete
c) burn
d) save playlists
e) schedule tv recordings via EPG
f) download and play on-demand movies and music etc
g) sync handhelds

Granted for most, these are just niceties rather than necessities but they are the sort of things which could potentially bridge the gap for people too afraid to experience a media center pc in the living room because they can't OR don't want to use a PC.

Most people who see my HTPC setup (Theater View) usually can't believe what they see and want to know how they can achieve the same thing. I'm often reluctant to go there though because unless you're computer savey, this is still somewhat of a difficult task. Being able to do the sort of things I've listed above WITHOUT a keyboard and mouse and solely within Theater View would make the sell a heck of a lot easier as the whole experience becomes more like using a cd or dvd player rather than a pc. As I said, MS is trying to go there and so are many others. I wonder if JRiver have any plans for this also? I hope so 

[Rob L]

The keypad search and the context menu in full screen is already there in MCE 2005.

The main point is that even within Theater View, controlling everything with a remote just isn't easy enough, even if you're able to get a remote control plugin working. Out of the box, it does the basics, but things like switching aspect, for instance, just really are too difficult (and even getting into Theater View in the first place)

[raym]

I had kind of assumed this went without saying, personally... but MC certainly isn't anywhere near yet.

I disagree. I think in many ways it's closer than many might give it credit for. The thing I wonder about and the reason for my original post I guess is whether this is actually a future direction JRiver see for MC and it's Theater View.

The keypad search and the context menu in full screen is already there in MCE 2005.

Ok. I wasn't sure.