The Windows 8 Pro Pack was available for US69.99, 18 while the Windows 8 Media Center Pack was available at no charge from October 26, 2012, until January 31, 2013, as a promotion to encourage users to upgrade to Windows 8. 19 After the promotion, the price of the Windows 8 and 8.1 Media Center Pack changed to US9.99, 18 until it was discontinued on October 30, 2015. 20.

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Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition ( MCE ).

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It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista, as well as all editions of Windows 7 except Starter and Home Basic.

It was also available on Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro as a paid add-on, before being discontinued in Windows 10, although it can reportedly be unofficially reinstalled using a series of Command Prompt commands.

Users can stream television programs and films through selected services such as Netflix.

Content can be played back on computer monitors or on television sets through the use of devices called Windows Media Center Extenders.

Up to six TV tuners on a tuner card are supported simultaneously.

Both standard- and high-definition unencrypted video are supported through DVB-T and ATSC standards.

It is possible to view encrypted cable television channels by using an internal or external tuner that supported CableCARD.

Consequently, the Media Center interface remained unchanged for Windows 8 and 8.1 users.

In May 2015, Microsoft announced that Windows Media Center would be discontinued on Windows 10, and that it would be removed when upgrading; but stated that those upgrading from a version of Windows that included the Media Center application would receive the paid Windows DVD Player app for free to maintain DVD playback functionality.

The user interface was redesigned and tailored for the 16:9 aspect ratio.

Support for multiple tuners was added in later releases and varies depending upon the version of the operating system purchased.

Support for many Windows Media Center Extender hardware devices, that had been released pre-Vista, was also dropped leaving many owners out of luck if they did not upgrade to one of the supported Windows Vista versions from the Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Also introduced to U.S.

Internet TV, which allows access to streaming content through WMC.

When any of the options is selected, the entries for each are presented in a grid-like structure, with each item being identified by album art, if it is an audio file, or a thumbnail image if it is a picture, a video or a TV recording, and other related options, such as different views for the music collection if Music is selected, extend horizontally along the top of the grid.

The grid displaying the items is also extended horizontally, and the selected item is enlarged compared to the rest.

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It is not available as an update for existing WMC users.

It used.wtv files instead of.dvr-ms.

Beta versions also supported H.264 format but this feature was removed upon release to manufacturing.

Much of the functionality added with TV Pack 2008 was included with the version of Media Center included in Windows 7, along with an update to the user interface.

All Windows 7 versions now support up to four tuners of each type ( QAM, ATSC, CableCARD, NTSC, etc.).

When the left or right remote control buttons are held down to browse the library quickly, a two-letter prefix of the current album name is prominently shown as a visual aid.

The Picture Library includes new slideshow capabilities, and individual pictures can be rated.

This allows users to access shared media libraries on other Media Center PCs from directly within Media Center.

This includes support for CableCARD and North American ( ATSC ) clear QAM tuners, as well as creating lists of favorite stations.

After the promotion, the price of the Windows 8 and 8.1 Media Center Pack changed to US9.99, 18 until it was discontinued on October 30, 2015.

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