I'm also getting high CPU loads with Theater View, around 80% (!!!) with MC just sitting there (not playing anything). Navigation is _extremely_ slow, with every keypress taking some time to be recognized by MC.
The machine is not exactly lightning-fast, but it serves its purpose very well, and i strongly believe a PC like this should be totally sufficient as a HTPC. Currently, i'm not using Theater View, simply because it's too slow.
What's really "funny" IMHO is that many of the (really impressive!) performance optimizations in MC12 vs. MC11 are counterbalanced by (at least for me) unneccessary eye-candy stuff. In my opinion, MC's performance, usability and stability should be top priority -> "Form follows function".
Another point is that it's no longer possible to use Theater View via VNC, which i use alot to control my HTPC from various machines. The screen on the client simply stays empty, it seems that VNC can't handle the graphic mode MC uses for Theater View (latest Version of UltraVNC with Video Hook Driver installed). MC11's Theater View was working well via VNC.
IMHO, the perfect solution would be to let the user decide whether he wants to use the "old" or "new" Theater View. Maybe it would make even more sense to implement "Performance Profiles", like in PC games. I mean something like an entry in the options menu, where the user can select, for example, a "high performance" profile, where all eye-candy (including skinning!) is disabled, and a "high image quality" setting, where all bells and whistles are enabled. That would save users with slower machines a lot of headache and frustration (not everyone has the cash to get a high-end PC).
Media Center Registered 12.0.130 -- C:\Programme\J River\Media Center 12\
Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1978 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 515 MB, Free - 180 MB
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.2900 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.2900 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.2900 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping / Drive E: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive F: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive G: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: Yes / Play sound after ripping: No
Burning / Drive E: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-111D Addr: 1:0:0 Speed:48 MaxSpeed:48 BurnProof:Yes
Drive F: _NEC DVD_RW ND-4550A Addr: 1:1:0 Speed:48 MaxSpeed:48 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No /
Portable Device Info
Removed devices: