You know we really thought Microsoft learned its lesson back in February when the first wave of the analog channels went dark, but we were wrong. A quick trip to The Green Button shows that the hottest topic this weekend is the fact that any ATSC channel that changed frequencies on Friday, doesn't work anymore. The exact cause isn't known, but what is, is that while anyone who has a $50 digital converter box can just rescan to find the channels at their new home, Media Center users have to go well beyond anything your mom could do to get all the channels back. Our guess is that instead of looking at the PSIP data of discovered channels, Media Center uses guide data to map the frequencies to the channel and this data wasn't updated on Friday. On Vista you'll want to first manually delete the channels in your atscchannels.xml file, then you can add the missing channels via a menu (Settings>TV>Guide>Add Missing Channel) -- Windows 7 users don't need to edit the file first. You will need to know the new frequency when doing this, which you can find on Antennaweb.org. Or you can just wait a few days until Microsoft gets its act together, it isn't like there's anything on TV in the Summer anyways.

With all the bad news around Windows Media Center this week, many enthusiasts are wondering about the future of Media Center. To say that the past few years have had a few disappointments is an understatement, especially when you think back to the way CableCARD support was implemented and how poorly the Extenders have been supported. Although things look pretty grim for our preferred DVR platform, we're optimistic that things are actually about to get really good in the next year thanks to Windows 7 and some unannounced features and products. Part of the reason we think this is because over the years we've been watching Microsoft develop products that have taken years to catch on and gain dominance. But lets be honest, we're not on the inside and most of what we think will happen is based on rumors and conjecture. With that being said, we've convinced ourselves that the future of Media Center, and the key to wider adoption that we think it deserves, is with Windows Home Server.

As soon as we heard the official word that Linksys had discontinued the DMA2100 and DMA2200 Extenders for Media Center, we though to ourselves, there goes any hope of a firmware update. But just to be sure we sent a quick email to see if there was any chance H.264 support would be added. As you might expect, when we asked if Linksys would release an update, the answer was "no they will not." Depending on where you live and what provider you have, this could be a big deal. Currently in the UK, no H.264 means no BBC HD, but eventually here in the US it will means no hope of HD from DISH Network or DirecTV. This also excludes those who want to use a Hauppauge HD PVR as well as anyone who has an HD camcorder that uses the codec. We have to say we're very disappointed with the support level from Linksys, even if it is an end-of-life product. We suppose it could be argued that we shouldn't expect new features on a dead product, but I doubt many who need H.264 would agree that this is anything but an update that ensures the device continues to perform its initially intended task.

When considering any software upgrade it is important to check and make sure all of your other software will work on the new platform; so as expected many have been holding out on testing Windows Media Center on Windows 7 full time because of their hatred of commercials. Thanks to plug-ins like DVRMStoolBox (DTB) automatically skipping commercials in Vista has been a reality for years, but when Microsoft introduced a new SDK and recorded TV format (WTV) in Windows 7, all the old plug-ins ceased to work. Well we're happy to be the ones to tell you that we've been fortunate enough to play with early release versions of DTB and Show Analyzer -- the software that actually finds the commercials -- and they work on Windows 7 perfectly. Once again we can skip commercials without even touching the remote -- and this includes recordings that are still in progress. The bad news is that we have no idea when these updates will be available for mass consumption, but judging by how well they seem to be working, we'd expect 'em sooner rather than later.

Extenders for Media Center held so much promise only a year ago, but now with one of our favorite Extenders being discontinued it makes us pause and wonder about the future of the model. A small, low powered STB connected to the TV doing all the heavy lifting for our HTPC makes perfect sense as a concept, but in reality when you consider the price vs the feature set, it just doesn't add up. The economic reality is that an Xbox 360 does more for about the same amount of money, so the small footprint and low power usage just wasn't enough to sway consumers to the Linksys extenders. Looking forward we don't know what to expect, with a premier Media Center partner like Niveus publicly stating that it's new Zone product was created because customers didn't accept the limitations of an extender, it really makes us wonder. We still think the extender model has its place, but it seems now that it only makes sense as a feature of another product instead of standing on its own. So in other words, we still have our hopes up for a Blu-ray player with a built in Extender for Media Center, but in the meantime we'll be picking up a couple more DMA2100s before its too late.

[Via GeekTonic]

There's bad quality internet video and then there is really bad internet quality video and there is no doubt that the latest internet tv beta 2 from Microsoft is as bad as we've ever seen. Checking it out we couldn't believe our eyes and tried a number of clips before shaking our head and thinking "are you kidding me?" In some cases the video is presented as 4x3 even though we know the show is available on other sites like Hulu in 16x9, but to make things worse, even when the content is in the original aspect ratio, it is so over-compressed we don't see how anyone could take this serious. The interface is decent enough and does do a good job of integrating well with the rest of the Media Center experience, but we hate to say it but we'd rather see nothing at all then garbage like this. Our favorite internet tv beta 2 feature? The ability to hide it from the guide, and with any luck, forget it even exists.

Media Center Extender users now have a reason to check out the SecondRun.tv plugin, with the latest build supporting direct play mode on any providers that support it (read: not Hulu, at the moment.) Right now Revision3 and the unfortunately overcompressed GameTrailers.com are the big names but users will know which ones work by a green arrow in the corner. Otherwise the latest revision has other tweaks including fixed display sizing problems and movie covers, but you'll have to load it up on your display to let us know how well it's working.

[Thanks, Nathan]

After learning that some were having success adding ATI Digital Cable Tuners to HTPC they built themselves, we knew it was only a matter of time before it would be possible to make it work on any computer, but we have to admit we never thought it would happen this fast. The Green Button forum member DanITman posted some directions and links to everything you need to make ANY Vista or Windows 7 computer support digital cable. The hack is very simple actually, it just uses a modified version of VistaLoader to emulate a Sony OCUR compliant computer's BIOS. The real beauty is that it can easily be installed or uninstalled and if Microsoft were to black list the Sony BIOS, emulating a different BIOS would be trivial. The only potentially unworkable caveat at this point is if you are using an Dell OEM Windows PC using the OEM key, this will break your activation, but hopefully a solution for that will be discovered shortly as well.

If you're like us then you've been playing with the various Windows 7 Betas. Although we really like the direction Microsoft is headed with it, some of our favorite features keep us from making the switch from Vista Media Center full time. We'd say the number one feature that keeps us living in the past is automatic commercial skipping, but earlier tonight we heard some great news. The guys at the Entertainment 2.0 podcast had the author of one of the best commercial scanning utilities on, ShowAnalyzer, and was full of useful information. The most notable part was that he's been working on supporting wtv for some time, and actually expects to have it working by May -- yes, next month. This isn't the only feature we're still waiting for though, but it sure is a big one and we're glad to know it should be ready about the same time 7 gets its first release candidate.

There was quite an uproar a few weeks ago when ffdshow developers started to expose the fact that 3rd party codec support was changing and Windows 7 and while many were quick to jump to conclusions and write about the big bad corporation, we had a feeling some wires were just disconnected somewhere. Regardless, the good news is that 3rd party codecs are still supported in Windows 7, but if H.264 is supported natively then using a something like ffdshow instead is no longer a trivial matter -- and in our opinion not a bad thing considering the nightmares this has caused in Vista. Now forcing a 3rd party codec to play natively supported codecs isn't going to be easy, but it is possible. The up and coming Hack7MC.com has a pretty good explanation of just how to get it done. So if you're brave and just can't stand decoding H.264 with MS's included codec, then click on through and give it a try.

Last week it was uncovered that the way 3rd party codecs will work in Windows 7 is going to be different. Microsoft wasn't exactly happy with our interpretation of the events and so we received a nice email today clarifying a few points; like the fact that Windows will "continue to use codecs and other format technologies from third-party companies." This is great and all, but doesn't exactly jive with what the developers of some third party companies are saying. The real point of contention seems to be that in Windows 7, if the video you want to watch is naively supported by Windows, there's no easy way choose a different codec, like the popular ffdshow. Now obviously you'll be able to add support for a codec not already supported by Windows, but that isn't going to be enough for some. That's not to say there isn't a way to override this out of the box behavior, but it isn't like it used to be. But honestly, a part of us understands what Microsoft is trying to do here. Anyone who has ever messed up their direct show filter priority with some hack codec pack knows the pain of re-installing Windows just to get a video to play again. So in a strange way this might actually be a decent compromise. Now if it was down right impossible to override the default codecs, it'd be a different story. But based on the current beta builds floating around the net, that doesn't seem to be the case. The full official response from Microsoft is after the break.

Sure there's other ways to get bits like Hulu and Netflix on your Windows Media Center and Media Center Extender interface, but since PlayOn media server's already set up to add streaming video from those and other services like ESPN and YouTube, why not slide them all in at once? If you've already dropped the cash for a PlayOn install or are trying out a demo, the vmcPlayIt add-in serves as a Vista Media Center front end for all those video sources. 32- and 64-bit versions are available for the low low price of free, if this matches your setup it should be worth a try.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

Whoa, we may need to slow down on the celebration over out of the box h.264 codec support in Windows 7, with reports from developers indicating the beta OS blocks the usage of third party decoders under Windows Media Player and Media Center. Of course, the included codec support would obviate third party installs for many users anyway, and until we get an official release candidate we can't be sure how things will stack up in the retail experience. Digitalwerks has run down the sources, noting that third party solutions like VLC and Media Player Classic could still serve as workarounds, but Media Center Extender heads will want to keep a close eye on things going forward.

If you haven't played with Windows Home Server, we're not sure what you're waiting on. But if a $99 version of Windows 2003 Server with great image backup software, drop dead simple remote access, and mindless RAID, weren't enough to get you to check it out, perhaps the new Media Center features in Power Pack 2 will do the trick. Officially released tomorrow, Power Pack two will be installed via Windows Updates and among other things -- like remote access enhancements and backup fixes -- includes extra support for Windows Media Center. Now we're not exactly sure how this new functionality will compare to great 3rd party solutions like Recorded TV Manager, but we have our hopes up that this is a prelude to tuner support.

We'll say one thing for our friends in Redmond, they might not always be on the ball but they do recovery quickly. Not even 48 hours after we reported the problem of missing guide data for ATSC channels that no longer have an NTSC counterparts, Microsoft came up with a interim fix that should restore guide data to all those pre-TV Pack Windows Media Center users. As we suspected, the issue had something to do with the old analog channel requirement and the root source of the guide data -- you didn't think Microsoft hand coded all that information did you? Evidently one of the sources of data used for both NTSC and ASTC channels dried up, post analog shutoff, and it caught the eHome team off guard. The good news is that all should be restored when your HTPC requests new data and if your like us -- you know the impatient type -- then a quick visit to "Tasks --> Settings --> TV --> Guide --> Get Latest Guide Listings" should do the trick. The full response from Redmond after the break.