14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Media Center was abandoned by Microsoft when it rolled out Windows 10, mostly because of its low usage, but it’s no surprise that people want it back.
And while Microsoft has no intention to re-release Windows Media Center, you can actually build your own extensions using the official SDK.
A former Microsoft engineer published the SDK on GitHub, and you can check it out by heading over the page linked here.
As for the reason the SDK was released, Charlie Owen, who left Microsoft in 2014, explains the following on Twitter:
“98% of the reason I posted was for historical love. The other 2% was that WMC fans are a passionate bunch and I get emails asking for the SDK materials about once a month. This is way easier to give back to the community.”
No word on the source code though
Owen also notes that his decision to release the SDK comes after Microsoft removed some download links related to the Windows Media Center.
“Preserving a bit of history for the diaspora that created Windows Media Center (the 'eHome' team at Microsoft) and the fans that still use since the actual installer has gone missing from the original download link,” the description published on the GitHub page reads.
As for the chances to see Windows Media Center open-sourced, there are no specifics in this regard, even if many people see this SDK release as the first step towards rolling out the full code.
However, Owen recommends WMC fans to get in touch with Microsoft and request the company to publish the source code.
“You could certainly lobby Microsoft to open source the actual Windows Media Center source code itself. We all know it is ridiculously unlikely -- but you never know until you try,” he tweeted.
Microsoft hasn’t obviously commented on the release of the SDK, but if you want the company to roll out the source code as well, you know what you have to do.