MediaBrowser Firestorm Brings Performance, Stability and Features

Posted by admin on January 5, 2010 · 1 Comment

MediaBrowser has long been a favorite for anyone looking to replace the built-in movie library browser with something that has a few more features. MediaBrowser is a free plugin for Windows 7 Media Center that adds more advanced library management, multiple view options for browsing the library and plenty of sorting options. It doesn’t take long with this plugin to see why it’s so popular. The latest iteration, Firestorm, adds even more features to the mix including a vastly faster user experience as well as increased stability over previous versions. For new Media Center enthusiasts Firestorm offers the perfect timing to try Media Browser for the first time.

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News, Windows 7 · Tagged with database, feature, media, media browser, Media Center, plugin, Plugins, sqlite, start menu, vanilla, Windows 7

Launching Background Commands from Extras Library

Posted by admin on December 4, 2009 · 1 Comment

Looking for a way to launch commands or programs to run in the background from the Extras Library menu? When you may be in luck, CW-Kid and Andrew Cherry have come up with a .dll and a set of direction for doing just that. The process can be a little daunting for novices but if you’re looking for a way to run cmd files in the background you’re likely able to tackle the task. This can be especially useful for those looking to run mc2xml or that have setup batch files to process WTV to DVR-MS conversion. After following this guide you’ll have a handy little icon to launch the command from right inside Windows 7 Media Center

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News, Windows 7 · Tagged with background, cw-kid, extras, extras-library, guide, icon, launch, location, match-the-title, Media Center, Plugins, the-background, Windows 7

Made for Media Center Now Open

Posted by admin on November 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Two Windows Media Center MVPs, Andrew Cherry and Ian Dixon, have collaborated on a new resource for Media Center owners. Made for Media Center is an “app store” for Microsoft’s “TV on your PC” platform, combining a website for plugin authors to submit their wares, and a Media Center plugin which allows users to browse and download those applications. A growing list of free plugins are now available for beta testers – fingers crossed the Media Center developer community jump on board and help support a great resource for MCE owners. To find out more about the plans for Made for Media Center, check out Missing Remote’s interview with Andrew Cherry

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with apps, fingers-crossed, made for media center, mce, media, Media Center, missing remote, plugin, plugin-which, Plugins, programs, vmc, windows, windows media center, windows-media

WTVWatcher Automates WTV to DVRMS Conversion

Posted by admin on November 14, 2009 · 2 Comments

As many former Vista Media Center users know, Windows 7 brought a new format to the Media Center in the form of the .WTV file. This new format is the new standard for recorded TV in Windows 7 Media Center, meaning all recorded TV will now be saved as WTV instead of the former standard DVR-MS. Unfortunately, this also means that programs with a long history of use by Media Center enthusiasts may no longer work with this new format

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with convert, converting files, display, download, dvr-ms, location, media, Media Center, simply-minimize, time, todvrms, vista, wtvwatcher

Programs to Customize and Improve Your Windows 7 Media Center

Posted by admin on November 11, 2009 · 1 Comment

Now that we’ve covered a handful of great plugins to improve your Windows 7 media Center, here and here , it’s time to go through a few programs and background plugins that can greatly improve your experience.

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with caller, channel-logos, Media Center, media center studio, mind, Plugins, programs, successor, vista, windows

Heatwave 1.2 Weather Plugin Adds Windows 7 RTM Support

Posted by admin on November 11, 2009 · 1 Comment

Heatwave, one of the more popular weather plugins for Windows Media Center has been updated to support the final release version of Windows 7. Previously, a small change to the Windows 7 Media Center code had made running the application problematic for those with the final release to manufacturing version

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with correct, heatwave, location, locations, Media Center, plugin, Plugins, settings, weather, weather-channel

Popular My Movies plugin comes to Windows 7 Media Center

Posted by admin on November 3, 2009 · 1 Comment

With the release of My Movies 3 one of the most popular movie library plugins for Media Center makes it’s way into Windows 7. The plugin has received a complete makeover to the user interface as well as updated code to work with the new structure of the Windows 7 Media Center platform. How does this update to an old standby fare against the new mainstays in the Windows 7 Media Center arena? My Movies does bring some features to the table that similar applications don’t have such as disc copying inside Media Center that may well make some converts of other plugin users. Let’s see how My Movies 3 stands up

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News, Windows 7 · Tagged with account, data, image, Media Center, metadata, movie trailers, rip, view, Windows 7

Building Your Own Custom Movie Strip for Windows 7 Media Center

Posted by admin on October 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Many Windows 7 Media Center enthusiasts have forgone the built-in Movie Library for something a little more sophisticated and feature packed. Plugins such as Media Browser and Open Media Library can provide a much more evolved move browsing experience than the native Movie Library.

Filed under Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with custom-strip, default, entry, Media Center, mikinhosoft, movies, Plugins, start, start strips, strip, Windows 7

Open Media Library 0.4.2 Fixes Bugs and Adds Minor Features

Posted by admin on October 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The latest version of Open Media Library is now available for download from openmedialibrary.org and it includes a number of bug fixes and some minor additions. The additions are mostly in the back-end and database manager, however, the bug fixes are certainly worth the update

Filed under Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with latest-on-open, Media Center, plugin, Plugins, server, server-version, windows, work

Create Custom Themes and Start Menus with Media Center Studio

Posted by admin on October 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment

A new program we’ve all been waiting for quite some time to get our hands on, Media Center Studio, has finally arrived allowing even the most novice users the ability to create their own custom Media Center themes and Start Menu arrangements. Media Center Studio, created by Advent of the Australian Media Center Community the author of Media Center Menu Mender, gives users the ability to do what could formerly only be done with heavy editing of system files and registry settings. All this has now been packed into one handy program that’s reasonably easy to use by comparison

Filed under Media Center, Plugins, Recent News · Tagged with australian, color, entry point, image, Media Center, media center studio, microsoft, plugin, program, programs, start, start menu, vista, windows

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