14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is continually updating its offerings associated with Windows Media Center on Windows Vista. As only the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of the company's latest operating system come with Windows Media Center, these are also the sole variants of the platform supported by a refreshed version of the SDK made available for download on August 6. Essentially, Windows Media Center Software Development Kit is designed to provide developers with the necessary documentation, tools, and even sample code, enabling the creation of programs and services on top of Windows Media Center. The updated version of the Windows Media Center SDK, or build 5.2 brings to the table a range of improvements and modifications compared to the previous edition.
"The Windows Media Center Application Step By Step document which helps you create a Windows Media Center application from an empty project using Media Center Markup Language (MCML), C# and Windows Installer XML (WiX). The C# project template has been revised and now includes Windows Installer XML (WiX) 3.0 scripts for generating a setup program to install the application. See the Readme.htm file when you create a new application with the template for more information. This application template is the same result you get from working completely through the new Step By Step document," explained Charlie Owen, Program Manager on the Media Center team.
There are of course other changes. For example, the MCML file template has suffered an updating in order to improve the implementation with the C# project template and to include the basic Properties, Locals, Rules, and Content elements. The Media Center Application step-by-step guide is now an integer part of the SDK documentation and no longer just a standalone resource. "The MSI creation steps will not be a part of the build process until you hook up the post-build event to run the WiX compiler and linker (candle and light) - the steps for hooking this up are located in the readme file that opens when you create a new project in Visual Studio," added Aaron Stebner, Program Manager on the Windows Media Center team at Microsoft.
Windows Media Center SDK 5.2 was tested by Softpedia as being 100% Clean and is available for download here.