Monday, October 13, 2008

MediaPortal New RC3 Update Available

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MediaPortal has a new update to their Free, Open Source, Windows Media Center Software.  This latest version is 1.00.0 RC3 and includes several bug fixes as well as a nice, new default theme called Blue3.
Blue3 uses a cartoonesque “mascot” that fits in well to the media center user interface.
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The Blue3 theme isn’t yet available in 16:9, but will be soon.  The new theme is very nice looking as are many of the MediaPortal themes.  I have a short walk-through of the MediaPortal Interface using this new theme for you here:



Here's a screen-shot of the horizontal menu view which I didn't include in the screencast above:



If you’re looking for a free, open source Media Center software, MediaPortal is a good one that you should check out.  My experience with it was that the non-TV media stuff is pretty nice, but the TV engine needs more work.  Still, its free and has a large number of followers so its worth a look.  Out of the box, Media Portal supports Windows XP, XPMCE and Vista (with UAC turned off).

Check it out at the MediaPortal Website

Check out the GeekTonic comprehensive cheatsheet of MediaPortal Keyboard Shortcuts