Vista Media Center TV

First a massive disclaimer (addition to disclaimer at the end of the page): Please understand that I am an ERP programmer. My specialisation is in X++, used in Microsoft Dynamics Ax. I am more comfortable with Inventory Transactions rather than anything in Windows. I am quite confident that the code does not contain any malware / spyware etc. However, I do not have a clue whether installing this software will open a big security hole in your system. I am quite confident that this software will not compromise security but I do not have enough technical knowledge to make any claims. So play at your own risk.

Or you can download the setup files here and freechannel.txt file over here.

Installation steps: copy freechannel.txt file to the root directory of c: and then run setup.msi to install.  You can edit freechannel.txt to add any live feeds that you find on the net. Any feed that plays in Media Player is good enough for this utility. Please maintain the syntax in freechannel.txt, first line is channel name and second line is the URL. Close the file after editing before opening Vista Media Center.

The UI is rather basic but it does what it is supposed to do i.e. show TV channel.

So what is this about? I have written an app using MCML to view TV channel live feeds in Media Center. I have tested the package on Vista Media Center and works fine. I am not sure about XP Media Center or XBox extender.

Are you wondering what is Media Center ? Get a life

Are you wondering what is MCML? Visit http://blog.mediacentersandbox.com/

If you are planning to look at source code then be prepared for sheer torture. I must admit that I am not very savvy with C# and this is the first time I am working with XML, but I went through pure torture for 10-12 hours to come up with this utility.

Unfortunately not much help is available on MCML, I started with Presentation Layer sample and started modifying code. After 2-3 hours of extreme frustration I realised that I need to use Choice and then it took me another 2-3 hours to understand how to exactly use Choice.

Send mail to harry@systomatics.com with questions or comments about this web site.

Disclaimer: I am working with Microsoft Business Solutions. The code on this site may or may not be related to my official duties with Microsoft. I do not claim in any expertise in modules represented on this website. Essentially there is just one person doing functional specifications (in head), design specifications (in head), coding and some testing. There is no way the project on this site will be free of bugs. The projects are intended as guidelines and may god help you if you decide to implement the projects without making any changes. If you implement any project resulting into data corruption or anything like that then do not even think of suing me because a. I have already warned you and b. I don't have any money. I may or may not respond to your emails about supporting the project. I may or may not upgrade the projects to the next service pack / version.