9to5 Mac reports that Apple’s Lion operating system preview seems to be missing Front Row, the fullscreen multimedia software experience. Now there could be a very simple explanation. Perhaps Front Row is being reworked (sporting the new Apple TV look?) and isn’t quite ready for inclusion. Or, like the new for-fee Facetime software, Apple may intend to charge for this functionality through the recently launched Mac App Store.
Yet, there’s a very small subset of folks like us who will actually use a computer as a television media center. So it’s also quite possible Apple has decided to move on. And they wouldn’t be alone, as Microsoft no longer emphasizes their fine PC-based Media Center DVR (with Netflix) experience. Regardless, Apple dropping the previously bundled IR remote surely hasn’t helped uptake.
Postscript: Regarding my Apple TV, it’s been handed off to a pal who has jailbroken the streamer and is running XBMC with mixed results, which we hope to write up in the near future.