Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

Visuaguy — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 13:26:23 GMT

As a european user owning my own company on the side . We build many design htpc's from scratch, that means including the Chassis. We recently stopped using Windows MCE as a front end and give the user a choice of several. (mediaportal, sagetv, meedio and the like)
This is because Digital TV is taking of here in europe and Windows MCE does not support it. (it does support OTA digital tv but thats behind the decoder here, so CAM's required - and not supported) If microsoft will not support DVB-S/C/T in vista MCE for every version of MCE, it will not become common here and MCE will remain to exist on a very small user base.

Want MCE to get more common in other parts of the world? support these three standards and all of europe and a part of asia are on your back! it should not be that hard?

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

Steven J. Ackerman — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:55:14 GMT

It goes much farther than this...

Update Rollback 2 and its many requisite brethren seriously break many MCE PCs. Want to use the new Microsoft MCE keyboard ? You have to install Update Rollback 2... So, you can have a working keyboard with a non-working TV or a non-working keyboard with a working TV - classic Catch-22.

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

MikeA — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 10:16:21 GMT

Do you really think CableLabs is going to give anyone that slaps together a few PC's a week the ability to build a machine capable of decrypting/recording a signal from any cable company in the country? They want assurance that their licensees will be manufacturing devices for the long haul, and that a $50K-$100K commitment is the least the licensee will be willing to do.

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

Brian Binnerup — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:33:09 GMT

I think Microsoft has a real problem here - when Media Center became available to the small system builders, Microsoft said the reason for that was to get more inovative Media Center products. With the current strategy, they are preventing the system builders to sell these products.

If Microsoft want to team up with PowerFile, and implement DVD changing features, they should make a deal with PowerFile so that all system builders could purchase units from PowerFile at resonable prices. Most system builders diden't even know about this before the press releases from their competetors.

What they are doing here with CableCard could seriously pull out the plug for all small system builders!

It is a bit down the same route as them implementing US only features when they have Media Center released in many countries!

Perhaps one should do a planform move, and let Microsoft and their "big 5" kill the system builder innovation themselves.

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

Hubert Kay — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 02:26:03 GMT

I myself was proudly carrying the banner of a "Microsoft Partner", with a System Builder certification. And yes, MCE PC's were one of the mainstays of my business.
Now I'm feeling royally screwed. I will certainly not extend my Microsoft partnership. This announcement just goes to show in which low regard MS really holds their "partners".

re: Stop Ignoring Small OEMs, Microsoft

SpHeRe31459 — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 21:28:13 GMT

Thanks Chris! :-)