Disadvantage of XP Media Center Edition?

[warner_patrick]

I am just about to buy a new laptop and I'm being asked to choose
between XP home, or XP Media Center Edition, for the same price.

Is there any disadvantage to choosing the Media Center Edition? I am a
power user of XP on my other computers and I don't want any features
available in XP to be locked down or hidden away - e.g. command prompt
and so on.

From the little I've seen, I understand the Media Center edition can't

join a domain. That doesn't stop it from joining a home wireless
network right? The domain issue presumably affects corporate networks
that have a corporate domain set up?

cheers for any hints on this?

thanks
Patrick.

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I am just about to buy a new laptop and I'm being asked to choose
between XP home, or XP Media Center Edition, for the same price.

Is there any disadvantage to choosing the Media Center Edition? I am a
power user of XP on my other computers and I don't want any features
available in XP to be locked down or hidden away - e.g. command prompt
and so on.

join a domain. That doesn't stop it from joining a home wireless
network right? The domain issue presumably affects corporate networks
that have a corporate domain set up?

Compared to XP Home, MCE will have more features. You are correct that it
cannot be joined to a domain but that won't impact your ability to connect
to a wireless network. All the other XP features you expect will be there.

 

[caver1]

I am just about to buy a new laptop and I'm being asked to choose
between XP home, or XP Media Center Edition, for the same price.

Is there any disadvantage to choosing the Media Center Edition? I am a
power user of XP on my other computers and I don't want any features
available in XP to be locked down or hidden away - e.g. command prompt
and so on.

join a domain. That doesn't stop it from joining a home wireless
network right? The domain issue presumably affects corporate networks
that have a corporate domain set up?

cheers for any hints on this?

thanks
Patrick.

A domain is when you have to connect to a server. Most home lans are
peer to peer which MCE has no problems with. If you want to have MCE and
connect to a domain there is a hack for that but you will probably lose
MCE's extender functionality. Supposedly Vista overcomes this.

 

[Bob I]

I am just about to buy a new laptop and I'm being asked to choose
between XP home, or XP Media Center Edition, for the same price.

Is there any disadvantage to choosing the Media Center Edition? I am a
power user of XP on my other computers and I don't want any features
available in XP to be locked down or hidden away - e.g. command prompt
and so on.

join a domain. That doesn't stop it from joining a home wireless
network right? The domain issue presumably affects corporate networks
that have a corporate domain set up?

cheers for any hints on this?

thanks
Patrick.

Don't worry, XP Home can't join a domain either.

 

[warner_patrick]

Compared to XP Home, MCE will have more features. You are correct that it
cannot be joined to a domain but that won't impact your ability to connect
to a wireless network. All the other XP features you expect will be there.

Thanks for the quick reply - just to be clear, can I call up the normal
Windows user interface from the media center edition - when I look at
the demo on the microsoft website, it looks like the user interface has
been completely stripped down?

thanks
Patrick

 

[Rock]

Thanks for the quick reply - just to be clear, can I call up the normal
Windows user interface from the media center edition - when I look at
the demo on the microsoft website, it looks like the user interface has
been completely stripped down?

MCE is based on XP Pro. It operates the same with the addition of enhanced
media features, so you get more functionality with MCE than with Home. The
only thing MCE can't do that Pro can is join a domain. That does not
prevent it's use in home networking either wireless or wired. All the
interfaces are the same as in XP Pro. Nothing is lost. XP Home can't joint
a domain either but it can home network.

 

[Tom Porterfield]

Thanks for the quick reply - just to be clear, can I call up the normal
Windows user interface from the media center edition - when I look at
the demo on the microsoft website, it looks like the user interface has
been completely stripped down?

When you start it up it will look just like XP Pro. There is an 8 foot
interface for MCE that is much different looking. That interface is
designed to be operable by nothing more than a remote control where you
would be sitting in your favorite comfort chair. The MCE interface runs on
top of XP, not the other way around. Also the MCE interface can be run in
windowed mode rather than full screen, in which case it just runs in a
normal window on the XP desktop. Make sense?

 

[warner_patrick]

When you start it up it will look just like XP Pro. There is an 8 foot

interface for MCE that is much different looking. That interface is
designed to be operable by nothing more than a remote control where you
would be sitting in your favorite comfort chair. The MCE interface runs on
top of XP, not the other way around. Also the MCE interface can be run in
windowed mode rather than full screen, in which case it just runs in a
normal window on the XP desktop. Make sense?

Yes - thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am just about to buy a new laptop and I'm being asked to choose
between XP home, or XP Media Center Edition, for the same price.

Is there any disadvantage to choosing the Media Center Edition?

For most home users, I would normally recommend the Home edition, but if
they are the same price, you might as well get MCE. There's no disadvantage
to choosing it. It has everything in XP Home, plus more. Even if you never
use its extra features, there's no disadvantage to their being there, except
for the tiny bit of extra disk space they may take.

I am
a power user of XP on my other computers and I don't want any features
available in XP to be locked down or hidden away - e.g. command prompt
and so on.

Not an issue.

join a domain.

That's correct. In's a superset of XP Professional in all respects except
that one. But note that XP Home can't join a domain either.

That doesn't stop it from joining a home wireless
network right?

Either XP Home or MCE can be part of a peer-to-peer (workgroup network),
wirelss, wired, or part wireless and part wired.

The domain issue presumably affects corporate networks
that have a corporate domain set up?

Exactly.

 

[Nina DiBoy]

If you google however there is a way to join a MCE to a domain =))

Hi Patrick.

The main disadvantage is that you will be paying for a product that is
filled with plenty of buggy DRM that will be the boss of what it decides
to allow you to use you media center edition for. Is that what you want?

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