14 DAY TRIAL // The first pre-release development milestones of Windows 8 will ship without some of the components that have been traditionally associated with Windows. Case in point: Windows Media Center. According to Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division, the first Build of Windows 8 that testers will get to play with will not feature Media Center, and this won’t be an exception.
The Windows boss mentioned a few other components that will not be included into the copies of the next iteration of Windows which will be served to early adopters outside of Redmond.
“Media Center will not be part of the first pre-release builds. Some other features/capabilities will not be in the first pre-release builds including: Windows 7 games, DVD Creator, upgrade setup, Dot Net 3.5 (Note there are perhaps a couple of other relatively low profile items but just wanted to hit the major ones),” he stated.
“These are engineering decisions as well as business decisions. As we get closer to market availability, we will make sure to explain how not just these specifically but all features of the product will be made available.”
With Media Center being excluded from the first pre-release Builds of Windows 8, the software giant would have been bombarded with feedback from testers.
Sinofsky anticipated this and set the record straight even before there was an actual issue to deal with.
“I want to reassure customers that Media Center will definitely be part of Windows 8. No doubt about it,” Sinofsky added.
“Knowing how strong the support for Media Center is among pre-release testers, we still have work to do to make sure the quality and compatibility with add-ins is what you would expect even in pre-release (as with any release of Windows, compatibility is a major effort and when we work on the underlying video engine, as one example, we have to make sure features that push these areas receive adequate coverage).”