Any good media player relies on a community of plugin developers to fix the small gaps and specific features that have been left out of the original design. Windows 7 Media Center is no exception with plenty of plugins being developed and release each day to enhance the experience provided. While it’s not always easy to find the plugin you’re looking for we’ve got a short list of those available that you should definitely give a try. This short list of add-ins for Media Center is sure to enhance the basic experience with a handful of improved features and media browsers.

Movies

Media Browser

Media Browser is one of the most popular movie browsing plugins for Windows 7 Media Center, featuring an easy to establish library with customizable folders for browsing your media. Media Browser also provides an extremely sleek interface for browsing your movie collection with the latest versions adding a brand new style of start page to the plugin. Listing the latest additions to each of your folders as well as the weather, movie trailers and more. Be sure to give this plugin a try!

Open Media Library

Open Media Library is an excellent option for replacing the native movie library. OML provides an extensive number of options for sorting and arranging your movie collection beyond the basic options available in the default movie library. The newest versions include the use of an SQL database and movie collection editor for managing your collection making this plugin quite a bit snappier to use than the built-in library as well. Completely free and open source, this is definitely a plugin to try and even keep an eye on in the future.

Music/Radio

mcShoutcast

Want to add thousands of free streaming radio stations to your Media Center music experience? mcShoutcast may just be the plugin for you. This handy little plugin adds the complete library of Shoutcast radio stations in an easy to browse graphical interface right inside Windows 7 Media Center. Browse through the stations, mark your favorites and listen to any of the free stations provided through the Shoutcast directory. A definite must have for music lovers and Media Center users.

RadioTime

RadioTime is another radio plugin boasting a collection of over 100,000 stations provided through the RadioTime service. The plugin provides a more traditional menu browsing directory listing and has thousands of stations listed in each category. The RadioTime plugin will even provide additional information about the station and currently playing selections. Also, more local and news stations seem to be included than what you get with mcShoutcast if you happen to be looking for those.

Music Browser

If you’re just looking for a way to browse that music collection by folder as opposed to the classic Media Center method of browsing your collection Music Browser has just what you’re looking for. Media Center plugins don’t get much simpler than this but the simple nature of browsing a well organized music collection by folders is exactly what many Media Center users are looking for. Music Browser even includes support for folder images allowing you to add custom artwork and album art to your collection.

Check out the next part in this series

Be sure to check back soon as we continue the list and even add a few programs to the list that are sure to enhance your Windows 7 Media Center experience. To be sure you always get the latest articles and guides be sure to subscribe to Hack7MC using our RSS feed, twitter or one of the other methods provided on our subscription page.