Last Tuesday, Charlie Owen, the Microsoft Media Center Program Manager, posted an article with some neat tidbits and screenshots of Windows Media Center in the PDC Build of Windows 7.  There are also some great comments on the article, which Charlie has forwarded to Microsoft’s Media Center team!

We Got Served also has a review with tons of screenshots.

Ian Dixon has an excellent synopsis of the new features!

Here’s a list of my favorite Media Center sites (as of 08 Nov 2008):

Blogs:

• mceworld - My new favorite Media Center site.  Is frequently updated and contains articles not only on reviews, or general news, but also personal experiences with MCE & VMC (quite a few of which I’ve also encountered).
• Chris Lanier’s Blog - Used to be the #1 blog site for Windows Media Center.
• Ian Dixon’s Blog - Hosts the #1 Podcast Media Center podcast “The Media Center Show”
• Missing Remote - One of the best for home theater, including HTPCs.  Has outstanding reviews on third-party Media Center plug-ins.
• Entertainment 2.0 - Quickly becoming my 2nd favorite Media Center site.  It’s the most active pure Media Center blog out there.
• Mediacenterguides.com - Has the most complete, up-to-date list of 3rd party plug-ins and more
• The Media Center Blog - Contains very detailed posts with tons of screenshots on all things VMC
• My Network Project - Has very thorough and interesting “Living with Media Center” articles

Forums:

• The Green Button - The #1 forum site for Windows Media Center
• Windows Vista & XP Media Center Support Community - Another excellent forum site for Windows Media Center
• Microsoft Windows Vista Community Media Center PC - A good website to get answers on questions about the XP MCE or VMC software from Microsoft MVPs and other savvy users

Even though I don’t have a Windows Home Server (WHS) yet, I reguraly check out We Got Served because it is the #1 blog site for WHS.

Well, if this is your first visit to the site, you’ll notice that I’ve only made one post, and it’s from February.

I’m still hoping to begin sharing mine, and others, VMC and MCE experiences with the Media Center world.

Also, I just upgraded to the latest Wordpress so there may some strange behavior like dead links, etc.  I’ll work through those in the coming days.

Along with sharing my views, and (hopefully) helpful fantasy football advice on thefootballmaniac.com with Eddie, I’m hoping to do something similar with Windows Media Center here at themediacentermaniac.com.

There are some outstanding blog, forum, etc. sites for Windows Media Center, but there’s really no website that provides up-to-date, organized general info (with links to detailed info) on everything that makes up that killer “10 foot experience” with Windows Media Center.

I plan to provide info on both Vista Media Center (VMC) and Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). Though, I’m a much bigger fan of VMC than I am XP MCE.

Initially, the main menu will have the following categories:

1. Favorite Media Center sites: Chris Lanier’s Blog, Ian Dixon’s Blog, etc.
2. Third Party Plug-ins (a.k.a. Add-ons): MyMovies, Yougle, etc.
3. Third Party software: WebGuide, dvrmstoolbox, etc.
4. Hardware: Tuners, Remote Controls, etc.
5. Media Center Software: Pictures, Videos, TV, etc.
6. Windows Home Server

I hope all the fellow Media Center fans out there find this site enjoyable and informational. I appreciate any, and all, of the article comments by other Media Center fans out there.