Time to drop WMC?

[AdrianW 1053]

I feel like I must be the only person left who still likes WMC, when set up properly it can do lots, currently plays my blu-rays, handles 3D, live tv works a dream, and mb classic works swimmingly, 

 

 

 

You're not the only one. MBT still has quite a way to go to catch up to MBC.

 

MBC gets used for hours every day in our house. So 99.99% of WMC use is purely MBC, the other 0.01% is playing back live TV recordings.

[Lee 204]

No, you're not the only one..

I still use and like it. Nothing matches it for ease of use/waf. Setting satellite tv up in the UK is a massive pita if anything goes wrong tho!

[dotnetzero 5]

I'm in the same boat.  When live TV on WMC is working (ceton infinitv 4 pcie), its fantastic.  But, it seems like every few days there has to be a round of reboots because WMC can't find the tuner, or says its in use by another machine / application.  Also, switching between media browser and Live TV gets to be a pain, i'm just chomping at the bit to do a way with WMC all together and use media browser theater exclusively, but patience is a virtue!  Looking at the preview video of all the features / enhancements to MBT doesn't help either.  Its slick right now, but gonna be a beast.  Really shows off what WPF can do and how creative the MB devs are.

 

My home server runs server 2008R2, so implementing ServerWMC would mean i have to pick one of the clients to install it on, which i'm not a huge fan of.  I like all the clients being completely independent.  I've also read that hooking into cablecard streams is tough because of licensing issues and whatnot.  Hopefully this is something that can be worked around in some form or fashion.  

[Cheesegeezer 3088]

Never ever drop MBC

[SikSlayer 197]

Never ever drop MBC

 

NEVER. 

[Cheesegeezer 3088]

In my eyes, its the most feature rich, stable, customizable, themed client we have that does live tv out of the box.

 

Window 8/8.1 users probably hate the fact that wmc is another hundred bucks to keep the wmc interface.

 

I will run windows 7 on my main htpc until they stop supporting it. I only use it for MBCanyway so why try and keep up with all the new versions when the one i have is fine.

[gthrift 57]

In my eyes, its the most feature rich, stable, customizable, themed client we have that does live tv out of the box.

 

Window 8/8.1 users probably hate the fact that wmc is another hundred bucks to keep the wmc interface.

 

I will run windows 7 on my main htpc until they stop supporting it. I only use it for MBCanyway so why try and keep up with all the new versions when the one i have is fine.

 

Bingo.  I think Windows 8/8.1 is ok and the 10 tech preview is better but there is no reason to move beyond 7 on my HTPCs.  I'm not as locked into WMC as I was earlier in the year when I was using a cablecard tuner, but the TV support is better than anything I've tried using before or since.  

 

Plus MBC is a better Client than MBT, I already have pretty good HTPCs so no point in buying Rokus or Android TVs.  If the OTA tuner comes out for the Xbox One in the US and if there is a MBXbone client, then that could replace one HTPC but I see nothing better.

[Bear on the job 0]

I think it's the playready licences that are pricey...

apparently the android tv boxes are going to have them. that will pretty much be the death of wmc Imho ....

 

I think it's also the certification requirements from CableLabs. For a device or application to be able to decrypt a copy-once channel, it has to support the DRM (which PlayReady does), but it also has to be certified/authorized by CableLabs. I think that's an additional $30k license fee per year or something. 

 

For the foreseeable future, the only way you will be able to watch copy-once channels is with WMC, because Microsoft is the only one with this certification in the PC application space. The MBT and MBC interfaces might get good enough to be usable in a year or so...but you will still need WMC on the back end driving it for those channels.

 

Also, if you are having issues with Ceton cards and losing tuners, it's a driver issue with the Cetons. When I first setup my WMC server, I was using Ceton ETH boxes, but kept having issues with dropped tuners, losing signals, and long delays when changing channels. After a lot of conversation on multiple forums, and working with Ceton support, I returned all my Cetons and got HD Homerun Primes. The Ceton devices have flakey driver issues, and the ETH versions of the devices have overheating issues. If I tried to watch 4 channels at once on mine, the device would get up to 75 degrees C, and drop all tuners until I rebooted the Ceton and went through the Live TV setup process again in WMC. I went through 3 Ceton devices, testing with 3 different PCs, all with the same issues. Once I changed to the HDHRP though, I've never had problems again.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Bear on the job

[Deihmos 147]

WMC as a backend does not allow you to view copy once channels in mediabrowser or any other software. The cable companies did not play nice and took many years to get it going which is one of the reasons why WMC failed and then abandoned. With mkv support coming to Windows 10 I am wondering if MS will update WMC.

 

WMC could have been a great platform before the roku and other devices came about.

[Luke 37138]

it could have been a great platform if they had created set top boxes designed around WMC. They could have done that, but as windows requires more horsepower than any other OS, they would not have been able to compete with the low price point of Roku and other competitors. But I'm sure plenty of microsoft fans would still have gone for it.

[Maleficarum 68]

There was a fairly decent take up of the few extender boxes that came out. I'm sure they could've come up with a windows embedded style release with wmc as the shell and got quite a few sales out of it. Now they'd face an uphill battle with too many competitors out there.

[dotnetzero 5]

Also, if you are having issues with Ceton cards and losing tuners, it's a driver issue with the Cetons. When I first setup my WMC server, I was using Ceton ETH boxes, but kept having issues with dropped tuners, losing signals, and long delays when changing channels. After a lot of conversation on multiple forums, and working with Ceton support, I returned all my Cetons and got HD Homerun Primes. The Ceton devices have flakey driver issues, and the ETH versions of the devices have overheating issues. If I tried to watch 4 channels at once on mine, the device would get up to 75 degrees C, and drop all tuners until I rebooted the Ceton and went through the Live TV setup process again in WMC. I went through 3 Ceton devices, testing with 3 different PCs, all with the same issues. Once I changed to the HDHRP though, I've never had problems again.

 

Thanks for the info.  I was ready to contact them to try and troubleshoot the issue.  I just looked up the current HD Homerun Prime and saw they have network tuners, which I didn't know.  And the box is significantly cheaper.  Looks like a nice alternative to my Infinitv4.