14 DAY TRIAL // CEDIA EXPO 2008 is the stage where Microsoft has gone officially live with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008. Still, Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1 users running the Home Premium or Ultimate editions of the operating system will have to wait for Windows 7 in order to benefit from an upgrade to Windows Media Center, or buy hardware products from select OEM Microsoft partners containing Windows Fiji. There is of course another alternative to access the gold bits of what has evolved into Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 from the initial Windows Fiji major update to Windows Media Center in Vista's Home Premium and Ultimate SKUs. However, having to resort to warez or torrent websites in order to illegally obtain the RTM build of Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 is in fact no alternative at all.
This is because Microsoft has decided to make Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 available exclusively to its OEM partners and not to end users of Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. At CEDIA EXPO 2008, Microsoft applauded the expansion of the Windows Media Center ecosystem and revealed the companies that would be shipping hardware products pre-loaded with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008.
"In the wake of Microsoft’s increased engagement with the custom installation channel, a broader ecosystem has developed based on Windows Media Center. We are thrilled with the level of innovation on the Windows Media Center platform that hardware and software companies are showcasing at CEDIA EXPO," explained Kevin Collins, director of the Custom Installer Channel in the Connected TV Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.
According to the official information provided by the Redmond giant at CEDIA EXPO 2008, the Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 will only be available with products from Fluid Digital, Exceptional Innovation, S1Digital LLC and Cannon PC. Windows Fiji RTM'ed as Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 Build 6.1.1000.18273 in mid July 2008. By August, the Windows Media Center update had already been leaked and was available for download from various sources including torrent trackers, but not from Microsoft.
"Our channel partners are driving compelling new entertainment and control solutions to maximize the success of custom integrators," Collins added. "The collaboration of some of the most forward-thinking companies in the consumer electronics category and their implementations of media center technologies are fulfilling the long-standing vision of the connected home."