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Any Early Windows 8 HTPC Adopters?

43K views 190 replies 28 participants last post by  j0dest3r 
#1 ·
I would be very curious if any windows 8 adopters have set it up as a htpc. If so any problems, and more importantly could anyone check if the metro netflix app, or especially the mce netflix app in windows 8 works in canada, since windows 7 one does not.

It would be greatly appreciated.
 
#54 ·
Was considering buying Windows 7 Home edition, when found a pre release of Windows 8.
This is likely not a prerelease but a black market download of either Win8 RTM or Technet Win8. The real prerelease is Win8 RC (Release Candidate) which is (or was) available directly from Microsoft (.com). I believe it includes WMC and does not require activation (or if it does, the key is provided on the download page.)
 
#63 ·
According to the two pre-release versions of Windows8 with MC add-on you are correct, no ATSC support without the hack. We might still get a surprise but I have my doubts. It may not be worth the headache to update but Netflix IIRC is supposed to be available on release day.
 
#64 ·
Over Windows 7 + WMC, Windows 8 + WMC provides:

- Storage Spaces (great for large quantities of storage HTPCs need when recording big MPEG2 files)
- The Metro user interface, which is great as a HTPC user interface. Especially when compared to a Desktop UI
- Metro Apps (like Netflix' Metro App) which will be a much easier way for developers to provide "addons" for HTPC machines that will leverage streaming services in a more integrated way than web sites do.
 
#65 ·
Agreed with all of this except "Metro user interface, which is great as a HTPC user interface"

Sure you can use a remote to navigate the Windows8 style (Metro) screen, once you get into the app however, you are boned without a mouse or touch screen. At least this has been my experience with limited testing the diNovo Mini on Windows 8. One of these days I will try the MS MC remote to see how it behaves. If I can get that working properly then I will be happy, but I have my doubts.
 
#69 ·
As someone who has both a Logitech DiNovo Mini and "The Loop" let me assure you that when using Metro, The Loop is far better. Especially for accessing all of the UI elements that are triggered when you go to the corner of the screen, and doing the "pulling" applications in from the side multitasking gesture.
 
#71 ·
I would recommend not touching Win8 until at least SP1 is released.
Currently it is VERY buggy & currently works best (but not great) as a full/fresh install NOT as an upgrade.

If you get an OEM (not retail) version of WIN8 you get an included free downgrade to WIN7.

I would go that route -only if it allows a full/fresh install back to WIN8 in the future & the "downgrade" is a full/fresh Win7 install.
 
#74 ·
Try it with a pair of HVR-2250 cards. I had a quad tuner setup, I even tried on a couple of computers (one Intel the other AMD) and when it wakes from sleep the leftmost PCI-E tuner will vanish from the device list. Win7 x86 & x64 SP1 all exhibit this problem. Same thing even when I tried AVERMedia Duet A188 & HVR-2250.
 
#76 ·
blueroomelectro said:
I'll switch if it doesn't have the lose a PCI tuner bug that Windows 7 has.
This is almost certainly a bug in the device driver, not the operating system. It is not uncommon for device drivers to have bugs from when a system comes out of S3 sleep.

My experience with Hauppauge tuners was that they worked well during the XP era, but then I had to replace my PVR-500 cards when I went to a 64-bit operating system due to driver bugs. I upgraded to a pair of HVR-2250 cards, but I continued to experience driver related bugs with those cards from when they came out of S3 sleep.

I then switched over to SiliconDust HDHomeRun devices, and I've had a very stable system since then (~2 years).
 
#78 ·
Another vote for SiliconDust HDHomeRun tuners here. The main drawback is lack of an analog tuner. The other advantages outweigh that shortcoming unless a local analog station is a must have. Even then, a separate analog tuner could be added.
 
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