You could create a batch file that calls MC18.exe with arguments passed to it. Use that batch file in your scripts.
Would that work?
Unfortunately, not cleanly (I've tried). It slows down every execution, which is a big problem when you're programming remote control buttons.
Mainly I don't even point at MC17.exe, because
even it is too slow. Instead, I use Windows Messages to program my remote (which call Media Center 17.exe, not Media Center.exe), so I have to go through all my GMLs and find/replace all of the instances of MC17.exe with MC18.exe and Media Center 17.exe with Media Center 18.exe. This seems like not a big deal, but every time I try it, I go through two or three "iterations" of the process before I catch all of the edge cases. And, making things worse, I have two separate GMLs (one for the HTPC and one for my other machines) since they work slightly differently.
And all of them target the MC window, not the "foreground application", so I have to fix all of that.
Then, I have a variety of different scripts that run in an automated fashion that I have to sort out. Most of these could use the batch file trick, of course, but then I have one method for some, and another for others, and I have to remember which is which...
I get why they do it the way they do, but it would be nice if we had a simple way to "set this version as the default copy of MC" during the install, and then it would create a "Media Center.exe" and "MC.exe" in the appropriate places, which would be kept up to date and whatnot until MC19 comes out. Then, we could install beta builds (and not check that box), run until we were ready to put it in production, and then just run the installer and flip the switch.
Sigh... Just complaining here. It is probably just me and a handful of other nerds it impacts. But it dramatically slows my adoption of the new version with every new major release.
