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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(ARA) - Growing up, many people had television consoles that were a marvel of home electronics. People had their TV, radio and stereo all in one beautiful cabinet. They showed it off to friends and loved having all the entertainment in one attractive piece of furniture.
Today, you can experience the same rush of excitement when you set up a Windows Vista-based PC. The capabilities of Microsoft Windows Media Center (a new feature available within Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate) have changed the way we find, record, view, download and access our digital entertainment. By hooking up a Windows Vista-based PC to your cable TV line, high-speed home Internet network, big-screen TV and stereo system, you are able to navigate through your favorite television programs, schedule recordings, view vacation photos, play video games and listen to your favorite tunes -- all from the home computer.
Using the intuitive on-screen menus, you can spend the afternoon perusing your digital snapshots, videos and songs. And the built-in TV tuner’s ability to display live broadcasts and record (standard or high-definition) shows will blow you away.
With a Windows Vista-based PC, you can watch your favorite TV program while another person watches a previously recorded show in a separate room. Amazingly, the content comes from the same PC, at the same time -- made possible by using an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system as a Windows Media Center Extender to stream the experience throughout your house.
Here are additional ways you and your family can enjoy digital entertainment in your own home by using Windows Vista:
* Powerful digital video recorder (DVR). Don’t ever miss an episode of your favorite TV program again. You get a terrific DVR if your system has a built-in TV tuner. A constantly updated, Web-based program guide makes it easy to record shows, and the digital fast-forward is a dream. And if your system has more than one TV tuner, you can record more than one show at the same time.
* Ultimate digital photo album. If you have friends over and want to share photos from a recent vacation, you can impress them with a digital photo slide show set to music. It takes hardly any time at all to pull the slide show together and show it on your big-screen TV.
* Digital jukebox. Are your CDs all over the house? You can cut the clutter by transferring your entire music collection to your Windows Vista-based PC. Just click the remote control to instantly access your albums (displayed with cover art), and enjoy.
* Xbox 360 as Windows Media Center Extender. If you have an Xbox 360, you can use a home wired or wireless network to link it to your Windows Vista-based PC, and then use its remote control to let the Xbox 360 dispense your digital treasures to any room in your house.
* Special Web entertainment. Windows Media Center provides access to more than 200 online media content partners, including Comedy Central, Showtime and MTV. You can also access Web goodies such as the new Windows Media Center SportsLounge, which features FOX Sports news, scores, statistics and video coverage.
More information about the Media Center experience in Windows Vista and what PC to buy is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/default.mspx.
Editor’s Note:
The author of this article, Ralph Bond, was commissioned by Microsoft Corp. to review Windows Vista and write about his experience. Bond is the author of “Family Computer Fun” (Que Publishing, 2005) and is a reporter for NewsRadio 1190 KEX (Portland, Ore.).
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