XP Media Center vs XP Pro

[bobogs]

Can anyone offer up a compelling reason to go with XP Media Center instead of XP Pro, especially given my need to connect to my office's vpn? I understand the whole media-centric nature of MCE, but I'm fine with accessing the My Pictures and My Music folders the old fashioned way. Are there any benefits to using MCE on a video editing rig? Are there slimmed-down features in MCE (like robust networking in XP Home)?

I avoid XP Home like the plague, but I'm asking because the Dell XPS 410 specs wizard is not even offering me a choice of XP Pro (only option is MCE).

Thanks!
Gary

[rallynavvie]

They're pretty much the same OS at heart. I think the reason you can't alter domains on MCE, other than at the installation stage, has to do with some way MCE works with Media Center extenders on your network. I believe there are ways around this though. I've also heard that it's more difficult to change user/group access and permissions but I haven't seen this. Drivers are the same between versions, though there are some MCE-only versions for some hardware that's designed for the Media Center app itself. The only thing you may want to concern yourself with if this is to be used primarily for work well into the future is that your security support and updates will probably end 2 years after Vista hits since MCE is deemed a consumer version of the Windows OS. However if you plan to upgrade later you don't need to worry.

The type of VPN access may make a difference. Mine uses an authentication token over my existing broadband network and works fine on my workstation running MCE. However if your VPN requires Active Directory logins then you might run into trouble. If you think it's going to be a problem just call up Dell and give them the reasons why you want to run XP Pro instead of MCE, they'll probably oblige you if one of their XP Pro bundles will work with the system. But I have to admit that the Media Center app, when paired with a good PVR, is a pretty nifty thing to have.

[bobogs]

Thanks for the reply!

You mention the PVR aspects of MCE. I use a Hauppage tuner card (150?) in my current pc, and i rarely record stuff with it...i might watch a football game while I'm working or browsing. I probably wouldn't use the MCE pvr functions much...TitanTV's online program guide has worked well for me so far. Any tv watching and recording for my family is done on the tivo or the Comcast HD dvr.

Also, I was thinking of bumping up the specs (and cost) of my XPS 410 config (see another post) by adding another 1907FP...then I could watch the tv window maximized on the second monitor.

I think I'll stick with XP Pro and bug Dell to throw it my way.

Thanks!
Gary

[redwudz]

Likely not a problem with a new computer, but MCE is fairly difficult to set up if it's a add on to a existing system. It was really designed to be a factory installed option on a new computer. You need to use MCE software and MCE approved and authorized hardware. It's a little too proprietary for me. Just my opinion, but I don't like to be locked into MS's idea of what they think I really need.

[rallynavvie]

Well the authorized hardware for MCE is really only limiting your tuner card, and the list of authorized cards is pretty much your most popular tuners anyway so not really restrictive at all. And as is usually the case with recommended hardware it isn't required for the proper operation of MCE.

That Hauppauge card will work with MCE just fine if you go that route, though the remote control may not. I got the 250 model and a MCE remote for mine. Really the only system resource draw I notice while it's recording is hard drive access. If you're going to use this system as a DVR and editing system (as I do with my primary workstation now) then you must get a large dedicated HDD for the DVR portion to record to. I have a 300GB drive dedicated to recordings. You don't have to go big, you can just use as large as you think you need for recorded TV. I generally use mine to record weekday night shows while I'm travelling for work and then catch up on the weekend or dump them to my laptop to watch on the plane.

I do use dual displays for my system, usually running Media Center maximized in the other monitor while I work on whatever. With the combination of the nVidia MPEG2 codec and the hardware decoding on my nVidia card I usually only see Media Center taking up perhaps 12% of a single processor's resources. If you're getting a Core Duo with 1GB memory you'd be fine as far as resources go.

[guns1inger]

From the Microsoft Media Centre FAQ

While you can access network resources on a work network or a domain, you cannot join a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 PC to the domain. PCs running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 are designed specifically for home use. Windows XP Professional features, specifically Domain Join and Cached Credentials (Credentials Manager for logons) are not included. As a result, you will be prompted for your logon user name and password to access network resources after you reboot or log back on to the PC. In addition, file shares or network resources that are set to require a domain-joined PC for access will not be available. Remote Desktop and Encrypting File System support are still included.

Basically, Media Centre is built around XP Home edition, not Pro. If you need XP Pro's networking, stick with the Pro edition.

[rallynavvie]

It is built on the XP Pro core due to its SMP support otherwise I'd have never installed it on any of my workstations. That and EFS reflect more Pro kernel than Home. There's a site that compares features between Home, Pro, and MCE which shows that MCE has everything except the domain ability and some user/group permissions which may be referring to the Credentials Manager (which I don't think I've ever used).

[JerryB]

Can anyone offer up a compelling reason to go with XP Media Center instead of XP Pro, especially given my need to connect to my office's vpn? I understand the whole media-centric nature of MCE, but I'm fine with accessing the My Pictures and My Music folders the old fashioned way. Are there any benefits to using MCE on a video editing rig? Are there slimmed-down features in MCE (like robust networking in XP Home)?

I avoid XP Home like the plague, but I'm asking because the Dell XPS 410 specs wizard is not even offering me a choice of XP Pro (only option is MCE).

Thanks!
Gary

these are my thoughts.... with wmc , the enphasis was on home entertainments... now with this they weaken certain aspects of windows xp pro... primarily in the connectivity area.... domains, remote accessing, certain things with networking!! you mentioned vpn.... know very little about vpn other than in certain connectivy and networking that important...... you may need to ask some one who is knowledgeable on vpn if wmc degrade/prevent vpn.....

below is tables and additional info on comparison of the two systems!!


http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/editions/xp-pro/media.mspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP
http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/MCE.shtml