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MeediOS: A promising HTPC frontend.

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superboyac:
I've been secretly planning to upgrade my living room setup for a while now.  I plan to do a makeover in 2011.  One of the things I need is a good frontend for using my TV connected to my computer: this is called HTPC (Home Theater PC) for those who don't know.  Now, as usual, there's a whole lot of confusing talk going on about this kind of thing, but I'll try to keep it simple.  Obviously, I don't really need any special software to use my computer with a TV.  I can just plug it in and use my TV as a big monitor and everything functions the way we're used to.  The ONLY things I need that is HTPC-specific are font-size and navigation issues.

Basically, on a TV, the font needs to be pretty big to be able to read from afar.  So all those HTPC jargon you hear about is pretty much BS.  You can use any OS and any software you want, you just want the text to be bigger than you would need if it wasn't a TV.  That's it.  There really is no other issue.  And navigation.  Depending on what you use to navigate (remote, mouse, airmouse, etc.) then navigation may be an issue also.  Right now, I use a logitech airmouse, which is great because I don't have any htpc-specific software currently and I just use the computer like normal.  yes, it's hard to read things, but I'll fix that next year.  My ideal solution is going to be a nintendo wii remote on a Windows 7 setup.  Why?  because it can do everything a regular airmouse can do PLUS it has those navigation keys on top (up down left right).  Those navigation keys will be important to using HTPC type of software.  Just think about your DVD player: the heart of the remote is the navigation pad.  So the wii remote is perfect...it has a navigation pad AND normal mouse function.  There's nothing more you need.

I know J.River Media Center is an excellent solution for this.  You put it on theater view, and that's it.  It's pretty perfect.  However, in my case, I use many different software for music, video, images.  I want to keep using those softwares because they're my favorite, but I want just a frontend to navigate more easily and legibly.  That's where MeediOS may come in.  I just discovered it so I'm not sure if all the media must be played inside of it, or if it can be used as a launcher like I'm describing.  if it can be used like a launcher, that would be awesome.

So that's what this thread is for.  Let's talk about MeediOS, HTPC's, and all that stuff.

Josh:
I am also looking for a front end for a media center PC I have. WMC would be great but it gives the option at the end of playback to DELETE the file with no way to disable it. Why this would be added after playback by default is beyond me, but anyways. I am looking for a front-end which supports hulu.

superboyac:
I am also looking for a front end for a media center PC I have. WMC would be great but it gives the option at the end of playback to DELETE the file with no way to disable it. Why this would be added after playback by default is beyond me, but anyways. I am looking for a front-end which supports hulu.
-Josh (September 22, 2010, 06:10 PM)
--- End quote ---
What?!  Excuse my language, but why in the F-CK would anyone want to delete a video after playing as  DEFAULT, undisableable option???  What could possibly be the reasoning for that kind of dangerous, destructive behavior??

Josh:
I have no idea. People have been complaining about that since WXP MCE 2005. There is no way to disable it and the permissions settings displayed on many google search results have hit or miss results. In fact, those permissions can screw up many systems and configurations.

superboyac:
I have no idea. People have been complaining about that since WXP MCE 2005. There is no way to disable it and the permissions settings displayed on many google search results have hit or miss results. In fact, those permissions can screw up many systems and configurations.
-Josh (September 22, 2010, 07:40 PM)
--- End quote ---
Man, drop that MCE stuff.  Just use regular Windows.  My goodness.  I have to assume its some stupid way of dealing with copyright issues or something along those lines.  For this reason alone, I will never ever consider MCE for anything.

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