Digital lifestyle from a dumb terminal? Not likely. (Xbox 360 annoyance #007)
This annoyance comes to us via reader ChicagoOne, who sent us the following tip: "Come on Microsoft, you design the "standard" media format, but now the only way we can watch our WMV-HD flicks is to use a media center pc? My guess is the software is in the box, but we will have to pay for the right to pop in a disc later..."
ChicagoOne has pinpointed a very annoying aspect of the Xbox 360. We know that Microsoft needs to encourage people to buy Windows Media Center PCs. Someone, somewhere inside Microsoft is rewarded based on sales of this flavor of the Windows XP operating system and that certain someone successfully convinced or forced the Xbox 360 product team to cripple the functionality of the Xbox 360 to limit the threat to his product. We hate it when companies let internal politics compromise product design. That's precisely the problem with Sony's insistence with using UMD and Memory Sticks in the PSP when a standard technology would be far more customer-friendly (but simultaneously more threatening to Sony's non-gaming business units).
In essence, the Xbox 360 is a crippled digital media receiver (DMR) and as such, it's hardly the magical hub of the so-called "digital home" (a term that The Economist has called "marketing claptrap"). Instead of accepting a variety of streams from the full array of Windows-based devices, the Xbox 360 is only allowed to receive streams of music and photos from the laptop used to write this post because Windows XP Pro falls to the wrong manager's profit and loss statement.
How would we fix this annoyance? Update the Windows Media Connect software and the Xbox 360 so that streaming of WMV and other movie files is as easy as streaming MP3s or JPEGs. Without being privvy to internal company financials, we have no way of knowing just how much this would hurt the Windows Media Center product line, but the aggressive strategy appears to be working: Media Center PCs comprised 27.7 percent of desktop sales at retail in the United States in August 2005, according to eweek. Even a simple move like enabling video streaming to the Xbox 360 could significantly undercut a product line that Microsoft has invested many millions of dollars into.
That doesn�t mean we still can�t be annoyed by it, as gamers.
We understand that no product is perfect, but we challenge ourselves here at Joystiq to make sure that we don�t lose our ability to think critically about the products that we review. To fall in love with any product would be an unforgivable sin that would undermine the quality of the writing that we bring to you every day.
As much fun as we�re having with it right now, the Xbox 360 has some flaws and some issues that annoy us that we�re cataloging through a series of posts, one by one. Because our previous posts in this series really ruffled some fanboy feathers, we need to remind readers that Sony and Nintendo will each get the same treatment once we get our hands on their next-gen consoles.
Previously catalogued Xbox 360 annoyances: 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jopojelly @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
hey, this ones actually good...if I understood what I just read
numeric @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Actually you can stream music from a computer with windows XP all day long. Please stop taking uneducated pot shots til you have done your homework.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Numeric: please read the post carefully. I very clearly state that Windows XP can ONLY stream music and photos.
I'm complaining that it cannot stream video.
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Holy crap, all this whining!!!
Seriously, Joystiq is going down the drain.
Report on news, not opinion!
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
We are mix of all sorts of content, Brymo.
NiHL @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Mmm.. I don't know if this is deliberate.. but I think your "read" link is pointing to the wrong page..
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
But you are beating a dead horse. Six "annoyances" so far? While using three digits (001) making it look like there are going to be a lot more of these.
Quite awful. Most of these "annoyances" can be fixed, or have some kind of add on to do what you please.
renaldo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Dont like it, dont come to the site. Jesus.
Go cry about it to 360 fanboy...
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Brymo: the point is that we should not have to spend money to fix these issues. They are issues right now that decrease the value of the system.
NIHL: each one links to the previous one in the series.
PhilJ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I don't see this as atypical. iPod does similar evils, Alpine's head units in cars only communicate with Alpine security systems, et al.
Yeah, it's a pain in the rump, but I would have expected this. We've been spoiled with modded Xboxes and general-use streamers from DLink, Linksys, etc. I bet if DLink made operating systems or software, their streamers would only work with that.
We'll have to wait until MS goes open-source, they have a change of heart, or someone chips the 360. I don't have MCE at home, but I guess I'd try it if I had a 360.
SetupWeasel @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"We are mix of all sorts of content, Brymo."
That doesnt mean we still cant be annoyed by it, as readers.
We understand that no website is perfect, but we as Joystiq posters challenge ourselves to make sure that we dont lose our ability to think critically about the websites that we read. To fall in love with any website would be an unforgivable sin that would undermine the quality of the feedback that we bring to you every day.
renaldo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
And I wouldnt call it a dead horse when each reason is different, Im sure the 360 is great, these are just faults with it. When they make a console perfect, no bugs, no bullshit, then you should whine if joystiq starts pulling weird shit out of a hat just to spend time.
Nmaster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
VC: IMO, you need to adopt a much more totalitarian approach to morons. Just delete their posts. I honestly think idiots should lose their 1st amendment rights.
renaldo: Well said my friend.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Nice. =)
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I am no fanboy. I own all the systems, sony, ms, nintendo. I have not even talked in the other posts. I am just getting tired of these complaints which are looking like a sony fanboy after each post.
I have not spent any money on the add ons, and I have not been stumped by not having access to the other "add ons" which the 360 can do.
My 360 works fine, sorry that you do not have space for your psu, that your batteries die after 30 hours of play as you are defeating a boss or big event in a game....
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
You all can go with the media and the big boys, that's fine. Beating a dead horse is by complaining about the same topic (annoyances with the 360).
I think I have all rights to express my thoughts. I have not broke any lines.
Chris McDowell @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I think that the majority of the people that now have media center pc's have no clue or could care less. Half the people that come in to best buy get a pc that is a bit more of a top of the line pc because of it's specs and get media center as a bonus but would probably never use it. Larger market share but not because more people are interested just more people getting it as that extra free bee thrown in.
itsgreen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
The software is NOT in the box...
the thing is being streamed from the media center everytime you start the program... a security issue.
Heard it from a microsoft guy in an audioblog, I believe from Ian Dixon (media center guy)
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
SetupWeasel: Great! Exactly what I am trying to do. I am not trying to cause problems, but I do not want to start one of these...
(Joystiq annoyance #001)..
I love this blog, but there is somethings we have to stand up and not take.
huzzah @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Did you just call the 360 a dead horse? ;)
Nmaster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
The funny thing is the people whining right now about these 360 annoyances and whatnot aren't going to have any problems with the PS3 and Revolution annoyances list.
I'm a Nintendo fanboy, and I dread the day the Revolution annoyances list starts counting down. However, I have to acknowledge that it's going to have it's flaws, and by anaylzing those against the competitors, I can better argue to a particular viewpoint.
In other words, if you want to be a "true" Xbox 360 fanboy, you should take this list to heart and learn from it. These are the things your enemies (like me!) will use against you. Knowing how to debate intelligently and defend against these will aid in your cause (why, again, do we have these causes?).
So instead of whining, try learning from it. Or, you could just get the freak over it. Either way, please make the idiots shut up.
Enraged Xbox Fanboy 001 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
OMG U FAGORTZ DONT LIEK MICROSOFT U GO 2 HELLZOR. Y R U SO STOOPED? JOYSTIQ R TEH SUK!!!1111
Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
to further this annoyance... I have MCE streaming WMV HD is all fine and good. But I wish it would let me stream xvid,divx,h.264 ect ect
josx @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Ouch -- sorry to hear that, Dan. Why the restriction?
Brian @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Dear god, please make it stream 720p xvid and divx files. Id love to make a video server, but the windows XP media edition thing and the craptastic formats it supports for streaming isnt helping any.
Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Its microsoft. from the FAQ ( http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/mcefaq.mspx Media center and the XBox 360)
the supported video formats are:
* MPEG-1 with MPEG audio
* MPEG-2 with MPEG audio or AC-3 audio
* WMV 7, 8, & 9 with WMA Standard or WMA Pro audio
* WMV Image 1 & 2 (Photo Story 1, 2, & 3)
I just wanna stream my Xvid, and Divx HD stuff!!!
Chris McDowell @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
modded xbox with media center is your best bet for now no HD but it plays everything else you throw at it. even streams from linux samba shares.
Griffon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Actually you can only stream MS formats. No DivX or anything else, that way cripples the function and makes anyone with a lot of movies already (probable riped to vob or divx) really question the value.
Add on no DVD upscaling and the xbox is at best a half hearted extender.
The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
TRANSLATION:
"OMG! I C4N'T PL4Y MY P1R4T3D D1VX M00V13Z FR0M L1M3W1R3!"
Get over it, guys. The 360's a good piece of hardware. I don't even have a Windows computer to stream from, (Mac only, baby) and you don't see me complaining!
Let me see the PS2, GameCube, or Xbox do the Xbox Live Arcade (or something similar) as well as 360 does it. Lets see the PS2, GameCube, or Xbox handle streaming music from an iPod in AAC format.
You're nitpicking.
robrob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
i agree with this one.
a softmodded xbox 1 with XBMC absolutely destroys the 360 in terms of "digital home" features.
Hopefully there will be a legal update to this soon. worse comes to worse, doesnt vista have WMC built into it? Hell, i upgraded from Win2k to XP solely for some extra mp3 playback features in WMP (mainly the ability to dock in the taskbar)
so yeah, i'll upgrade to vista jsut to get windows media center functionality on this pc.
hopefully there will be a way to play divx/xvid, or else i am never gonna get to retire the first xbox.
The Rickster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
PS2 did this too - I expect all drives that can be oriented this way carry the same warning.
So don't do it... numpties.
Stefano @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
A couple of annoyances could be funny. But all these simply show how pathetic is the guy behind this site. I don't know what Xbox did to you, but you should really take a rest from Internet.
dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Isn't the whole point of Media Center PCs to hook them up to the living room tv that the 360 will probably also be conected to? WTF is the point of using an MCPC to stream video to the 360 that's located a foot away from it?!? We should be able to stream from any PC on our home networks right now.
oh and ZeroCorpse
"ZOMG! S0M3 0F US H4V3 C0LL3C710N5 0F C0MPL373LY L3G171M473 M3D14... sorry, obnoxiously condecending l337sp34k seems to be contagious, as I was saying, some of us have completely legitimate collections of media sored in divix and/or xvid formats. I personaly have about 100GB of video in these formats and not a single MB represents an instance of piracy. To imply that all people who use these video codecs are thieves is just plain ignorant.
Hushed Casket @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I have a Windows Media Center PC.
I have an XBOX 360 with HDD.
I am blown away by the extension capabilities on the 360. Tonight, I'll watch LOST in HD over-the-air on ABC through the 360 in my living room - something I was not able to do through my HD cable box (no local ABCHD on cable yet).
All my videos, pics, and music are accessible through a slick UI. Its great.
The specs for the 360's media extension capabilities have been known for a while for both XP and MCE OSs. If you are disappointed, it is because you did not do your research. At least admit that.
Perhaps people should start encoding their media in formats that are going to endure the next several years of changes in the streaming media realm.
Wait until Vista is out next year and 360 owners will be (well, they wont but they should be) very grateful at the way MS handled streaming media through the 360.
Curtis Brunet @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Wow, I can't believe how mabny moronic posts are on here. What he saying is that if we can stream music, why the hell not movies? Its bullshit on MS's part to force us to buy more of their shitty equipment just to do what we want to do.
Do I like my 360? Sure. Would I like it better if I could stream my movies or copy them to the HDD? You bet your ass. I tried so hard to get this to work. Apparently, you need MC hardware to install Windows XP Media Center Edition onto a PC. I installed VMWare and was hoping to install MC on that, then share from my PC, to the VMWare's MC, to my Xbox. But that didnt work. Looks like I need more proprietary bullshit.
I just want them to mod it already so I wont need my Media Server PC in my living room anymore.
Todd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This was the exact reason I didn't get one at launch. I would have if I could take the video I have burned on CD's or DVD's that I play all the time on my Windows XP Pro computer at home and play them on the 360. From the way they talked in the past it sure looked like that's what I could do, however I guess sales of Media PC's are slow and this is their answer to that problem.
I have a $60 Phillips DVD player that can play most of them, but they are really slow on updating the firmware. I thought the 360 would be better than a cheap DVD player, but I guess I put too much hope in Microsoft.
Curtis Brunet @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Wow, I can't believe how mabny moronic posts are on here. What he saying is that if we can stream music, why the hell not movies? Its bullshit on MS's part to force us to buy more of their shitty equipment just to do what we want to do.
Do I like my 360? Sure. Would I like it better if I could stream my movies or copy them to the HDD? You bet your ass. I tried so hard to get this to work. Apparently, you need MC hardware to install Windows XP Media Center Edition onto a PC. I installed VMWare and was hoping to install MC on that, then share from my PC, to the VMWare's MC, to my Xbox. But that didnt work. Looks like I need more proprietary bullshit.
I just want them to mod it already so I wont need my Media Server PC in my living room anymore.
Charlie Owen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Folks tend to ascribe motives to Microsoft which simply aren't there. In this case, the features were built by two separate teams (or business units) specifically tailored for their typical end users.
The XBox 360 team focuses on core gaming scenarios and seeks to give you the most powerful gaming machine on the planet. They tend to not focus on digital media except where it intersects with their core gaming mission (for example, listening to my music while playing Project Gotham Racing rather than the built in tunes for that game). The built in digital media features of XBox 360 (the ability to stream music / photos from any Windows XP machine via Windows Media Connect and play videos located on the XBox 360 hard drive or streamed from XBox Live) were created by the XBox 360 team as value added features to an already great gaming machine -- more bang for your buck, so to speak.
The Media Center team focuses on the consumption of digital media throughout the home (and doesn't pay too much attention to gaming, at least not in the same vein as the XBox team). The Media Center Extender features available from the XBox 360 media blade were created by the Windows Media Center team. We found the XBox 360 was a great platform for our 'game title' of the Media Center Extender software and could bring this to market in addition to what the XBox 360 team was adding to the native XBox 360 feature set.
And it's also a matter of perspective. The two teams (XBox 360 and Media Center team) believe in a good, better, best tier approach knowing one size rarely fits all and budgets might limit some folks. From a market research standpoint its the right way to go -- it's why Apple has three flavors of iPod (iPod, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle) with varying levels of storage.
So, here is the pitch...
XBox 360 is good all by itself and has some great built in digital media features.
XBox 360 is better if you connect it to a home network with a Windows XP machine -- you can then get to a bunch more of your digital media content through the built in XBox 360 features.
XBox 360 is best when you connect it to a home network with Windows XP Media Center Edition -- you can enjoy nearly the full feature set of Media Center (including HD recorded TV) on your XBox 360.
Lite @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
as a Media Center owner who stream his crap to the Xbox (1st gen) with no probs, it's obvious that MSFT is not ready for a "convergence box" yet.
maybe with the rollout of Vista (for which MC is the testing ground) we will see the famed "all-in-one" type box.
kepe in mind this would mean making the xbox's able to accept upgrades to their os's so they can get the latest codecs, etc...
Blame the movie industry as well, for failing to agree on a video/HD/everything else standard.
Again, this will probably not emerge until the next gen of consoles, which should be what...around 2008-9 ????
Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
And the XBox 360 would have been the Bestest Machine if it would have supported xvid and divx
Radiant Silvergun @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Media Center will be imcluded with the Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Windows Vista.
bedpanjohn @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
#37 "Folks tend to ascribe motives to Microsoft which simply aren't there....."
you just described exactly what Microsoft wants and what the article is about... selling their products... they could have easily put in a DVR system and a larger hard drive in to the 360 system to allow all of the tools you get out of windows media center. Gates has said it a million times; they want to be the media center of the home with games, TV, movies and music. But if you want that you have to pay 400 bucks for the games system and 100 for the upgraded version of windows media version and have your computer hooked up.
I love the idea to have my computer, game system and entertainment center all in one but you cant say that Microsoft isnt trying to make a larger profit making you buy everything separately; as the article stated.
pennywise969 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Yeah, I have to agree that this is annoying. Maybe if they see that this annoyance isnt selling media center pcs they will update the 360 so that it will work from any windows pc.
epobirs @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
It's amazing how far removed you folks are from normal consumer reality. First of all, to support other companies' proprietary codecs like DiVx would have meant licensing those codecs and producing/testing the X360 version. The latter would be a one-time additional expense to the product and the former an added cost to every unit. This is a lot of expense for something that only matters to a small portion of the console market at this point in time. Supporting devices like the iPod for non-DRMed files isn't a problem because it looks like a standard USB hard drive to the system. The same is true of a PSP. The stuff that isn't proprietary is what is supported because this can be done without adding any significant cost for those people who aren't interested.
Sony is a similar case. There is only room on the PSP for one flash card slot. Given that choice Sony is damned well going to favor their own Memory Stick format and the revenue generated by that. On the PS3 the space for other card formats isn't a problem and they don't pay any severe license fees for including SD and CF. (Or those costs are already covered by volume licensing throughout Sony that has long since hit its maximum discount.)If either of those formats was strongly tied to a single competing company, such as XD, it would be excluded as is the case.
And even if MS had supported DiVx and Xvid, what is the win there? The great majority of consumers, who are going to buy a retail solution rather than roll their own, have never heard of either codec. Microsoft is going to support the format they've already spent immense sums on bringing to broad consumer awareness. Not only does this promote the company's product range (just imagine, a company trying to cross promote its products) it also incurs little penalty if it doesn't get much uptake. If you license another company's codec to reside in your machine, they expect to get a royalty on each unit sold rather than just those actually used. The approach for that would be a paid download like the way DVD playback was sold as an add-on kit on the original Xbox. The cost of the DVD playback license back then was unacceptably high to attach to every single Xbox when so much of the potential market already had their DVD players. The kit left the spending decision up to the customer. (Sony's being in the DVD patent pool and home video business gave them a very different set of motives on this issue.)
If it was seen as a good business decision it is entirely possible that proprietary codecs like DiVx could be made available via the Xbox Live Marketplace but one can hardly blame MS for trying to sell cat food to people already buying their dog food. Purina is going to recommend Purina rather than a competitor.
As for requiring Media Center over just XP, they were trying extend the Media Center experience. Their efforts in this area are centered on that and its silly to expect them not to use that as their platform for the same functionality brought to the X360.
epobirs @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
#42
Have you for a moment considered how insane your proposal would be from a business standpoint?
Simplistic thinkers have for several years thought it a natural to combine a game system and DVR but they really have entirely different functional requirements. Trying to combine the two either makes for a very expensive hard to sell unit or a highly compromised design. A DVR needs to be able to divide its attention. for instance, people commonly watch shows they've earlier recorded while a show that is currently being aired gets recorded. Not a problem for a system designed to perform this juggling act and thus has the processing power for it task allocated in advance.
A game console is the opposite. It is designed to be entirely dedicated to one thing at a time and make all of its power available for developers to exploit. When that game is running it OWNS the machine. So what if your DVR/console is supposed to record a show while your playing a game? It either fails to record or doesn't allow you to play or limits you games that put little load on the system. The only way it can do both is if there are separate dedicated DVR elements in the machine that games cannot access. At this point the machine becomes a LOT more expensive and the value of putting both functions in one box becomes highly questionable.
Worse, DVR is still struggling to make its way into consumer consciousness. DVR is still a niche category with a serious conceptual barrier to overcome. Much of this will be accomplished by the passage of time but that is little comfort for someone who needs to sell a DVR today. Trying to piggyback a poorly understood product on a more common item only serves to saddle the latter with added cost and consumer reluctance at paying for an added feature set they don't understand.
It would an interesting experiment if MS made an Xbox 360 model similar to Sony's PSX DVR/PS2 combo but it would but utterly disastrous to make it a central focus of the Xbox 360. Right now, people looking for a high-end DVR can get the Media Center PC in many forms. The X360 serves to extend the value of that (and itself) but without forcing anything on consumers just looking for a high-end game console.
Tucker @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Epobirs: I'm so glad to see there's at least someone else who reads this blog with a brain in their head. People complain about the price of the system as it is now - and that's with MS selling it at a loss.
I know it's very easy to peg MS as the evil corporation, but the fact that people look at other manufacturers' release of proprietary/"don't play with others" products as 'innovative' is idiotic.
Nobody's forcing you to buy these products, and in most cases statements of these machines' capabilities are clearly laid out beforehand - hell, seeing I couldn't stream video from my XP PC was one of the major reasons I haven't run out and bought a unit yet.
But, I guess some people expect Bill Gates to dress up like Santa Claus and come around to every house in America to hand-deliver a free unit that plays every game and video format known to man. Imagine if MS had said "ok, we'll delay the launch 'til January so we can ship two million units in one day - AND we're jacking the price to $599, but will be including full DVR and video streaming capability." First, fanboys' heads would explode into thin clouds of dust, then consumers at large would start laughing their asses off as they walked past full shelves of non-selling units.
I think Joystiq's covering of the "annoyances" is excellent - especially from the viewpoint of someone involved in digital media. Hell, I *wish* we could get content from our writers to inspire 42 comments in the course of a day. I think some of the points are valid and some are stupid, but at the end of the day we all read them, no?
Please, people, if you go through your lives thinking companies manufacture goods or perform services specifically for YOU or "the greater good," you will be disappointed. As many of us have said over an over, "if you don't like it, don't buy/watch/read/play/let your kids play/whatever."
Griffon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
EH hem. Xvid is not proprietary and plays Divx. But that is irrelevant though since MS would not have to license anything since users can place the codecs on their media center and the 360 could (and probable will in the long run) leverage a stream conversion algorithm to play back any file.
It is indeed about promoting their own standards with a sledge hammer and taking control. That is taking control away from end users by eliminating their choices in favor of integration and giving power to MS. Do you really think that is good thing for us as consumers, please recall that they are very much in bed with the IP owners.
MS isn't evil but they want what they want, just like the IP owners, money from everyone for everything.
Deploying xvid/divx and general MPEG4 compliance would cost them almost nothing, instead we will have to wait months and get weird ass work around.
There are a lot of reasons nobody wants to use the windows video formats and instead want MPEG4. Of course MS would like to change this but since they have failed to provide decent tools for folks to migrate libraries obviously they are not going to get much traction with 360 purchasers.
Probable that is fine withe MCE team though since they would rather you buy the 360 realize it won't do shit to stream your data out of the box and then go buy another media center instead. Hopefully the true next gen extenders by non MS companies will do a better job with sort of stuff.
tcc3 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I find this nitpick almost as rediculous as "the 360 isnt edible." Sure there are things the 360 wont do. It wont change your oil or cook your breakfast either. Thats not its purpose. IIRC MS never said any of the media center functions would work with out media center. I was happy for my friends without media centers when I heard it would stream mp3s from XP. Be glad it streams the music, which was a feature sorely needed and poorly implemented on the Xbox1.
I can see it now: Annoyance #213 - 360 doesnt play Laser Disks
Stuart @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
The idea that Microsoft, who see the future of PC as being the media hub, would upset their negotiations with Hollywood and the TV companies to create a secure DRMed environment on the PC by supporting a video format whose primary use is for dowloaded pirated content is madness. There's now they they would make teh Xbox 360 a media terminal for bittorrented movies - it ain't going to happen.
Ivo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
It might be better if they could at least get Windows Media Connect to work properly in the first place.
The bugger doesn't even let me stream music or pictures no matter what I do.