Missing Remote has put together a 6 month report card on Vista’s Media Center Edition functionality – hype, reality, and conclusions:
I’m sure by now you’ve noticed quite a few disappointments on the Vista front, and yet I personally run Vista and am quite happy. To be fair, in addition to the aforementioned “features,” I’ve found my Vista box to be just as capable as my XP box was, and even more stable
I wasn’t running Vista as a Media Center or HTPC, just as an occasional (and flaky) media server (to Xbox 360), so I can’t add much more to the conversation. However, I can tell you my desktop PC is much more useful (and quick) since “downgrading” to XP (Media Center Edition) earlier this week. (And I highly recommend Acronis True Image – it made restoration a breeze.)
Hey Dave, Since you mentioned Acronis True Image, I should mention that you can get a rebranded version of that program for free if you have a Seagate or Maxtor hard drive. Can’t beat the low price of free :)
http://brentevans.blogspot.com/2007/07/acronis-true-image-free-download.html
I’ve paid for Acronis twice now, when I originally purchased and an upgrade last fall. But free is better – I hope I remember when it comes time to upgrade again since I do have an external Maxtor drive.