From: artbrooks 02 Apr 06 - 11:47 PM

Seems like Media Center is an PC/TV integration set-up...record TV shows on the hard drive and so forth

That's exactly what makes it "Multimedia." The only question is what WinXP version the multimedia stuff is piggy-backed on top of.

If you buy a "multimedia" computer, you most likely get some hardware that's "useful" for multimedia purposes. The "Multimedia WinXP" presumedly adds at least basic software for exploiting the "multimedia uses" of the hardware included with the machine.

The hardware may be the same as for any other machine, and only "software to exploit" is added, or some of the hardware may have an extra chrome stripe to make it more useful. The point is that if you buy a multimedia machine, you probably should take it with a multimedia OS. This assumes you can rely on the seller to know what works together.

The machine, as described, should be fully functional for normal "office" uses.

Recording TV programs from broadcasts and/or from DVDs may be a vanishing act for some people. Some of the media producers have begun using a DRM system that requires a "hardware de-cryption" device in your PC. The last report seen, a few weeks ago, was that only one "media card" (formerly sound card) producer is claiming to be able to provide cards with the required hardware component. The maker of the hardware component denies any agreement to sell to the card maker, and insists that the de-coding hardware will be available only to OEM machine builders for use only in "OEM Multimedia" computers.

(So far as known, this device is not in any multimedia computer you can buy now.)

If this DRM project proceeds as currently indicated, you will NOT, in the forseeable future, be able to "buy a card" that gives you DVD copying or "broadcast capture" of TV programs. (It appears that you still may be able to capture at "analog resolution," but will not be able to save at "digital TV" quality without the hardware.)

John