There have been quite a few Windows 7 Media Center plugins that enable watching streaming video from services like Youtube. Most, however, cover the basics of getting the content to your screen but leave quite a bit to be desired in style and usability. MacroTube does both quite well allowing you to browse Youtube, DailyMotion and Microsoft’s Soapbox rather [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Heatwave, one of the more popular weather plugins for Windows Media Center and one of the first plugins to be covered here on Hack7MC 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 [...]
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 [...]
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. These programs and plugins will improve on the Media Center interface as well as adding some missing options and features that are lacking [...]
Continuing on the last article covering an assortment of movie and audio plugins you need to try with Windows 7 Media Center, we’ve got even more plugins you need to give a try. These plugins cover features that should be included in any decent ten-foot media application in this day and age of widespread internet access, Weather and Social [...]
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 [...]
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. The problem is that, although these packages typically install a basic start menu strip of [...]
Many movie enthusiasts prefer to watch content in it’s original resolution and refresh rate. Unfortunately, Windows 7 Media Center doesn’t automatically adjust the refresh rate or resolution of the program to suit content instead resizing and adjusting the content to suit Media Center’s settings. This of course distorts the content from it’s original format. Luckily for purists, Dgaust of [...]
As any bachelor can tell you the basic sleep timer function built into any recent (or even not so recent) television is the perfect partner for those nights falling asleep on the couch. This basic functionality has long been missing from Windows Media Center however. For those missing this feature, look no further. The Green Button forum member StixBit [...]
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. Much of the work in this patch focuses on the database editor provided to [...]
Open Media Library is quickly becoming a favorite replacement for the default Windows 7 Media Center movie library. Though the community isn’t quite as large as Media Browser’s the project is quickly attracting open source developers and development seems to really be picking up speed. This new release includes one major improvement over previous version in the new database [...]
Don’t let the name fool you, recent versions of Vista4Cast have added support for Windows 7 Media Center allowing you to get the local weather at a glance. For those looking for an extremely easy way to check the weather from inside Media Center or in need of replacing an old favorite that no longer works in RTM, Vista4Cast [...]
Looking to increase your options for online radio inside of Windows 7 Media Center? RadioTime boasts over 100,000 radio stations in it’s directory and has created a Windows Media Center plugin to allow you to access it all from your HTPC. Access music, talk, sports and world radio as well as an easy to use directory of local stations [...]
With Media Browser moving to a paid model you may be looking for alternatives for your movie collection viewing. Fortunately for you there are a few good alternatives on the rise in the open-source community that can fill your need for something a little above and beyond the native movie library. Some, such as Open Media Library, even provide [...]
Looking for a way to bring your GMail to your 10-foot interface? We may have just the thing for you. If you’ve been looking for a way to separate yourself from your desktop but can’t live without immediate access to your email it might be time to give Media Center Mail a try.
Officially known as Vista Media Center Mail, [...]
