Moving on from WMC? (1 Viewer)

[GlenR]

First hello everyone. Just joined the forum and thought I might start by polling on your opinions for the future of my HTPC. I've read a few of the threads here and there seems to be some very diverse opinions, so perhaps you could help me move forward with my HTPC...

As you can probably guess from the title, I'm still on Win7 running WMC. It just works. I have it set as I like and it's been stable and the centre-piece of my home theatre/viewing experience for quite some years now, however with Win7 support stopping I have been debating whether to move on to something else or to just remain on WMC. The PC it is on is dedicated and does not connect to the internet except to the third party provider of my TV guide.

To give you an idea what I have, the WMC runs dual Hauppage tuners (4 tuners in total) and I have a server that holds by ripped audio and a fair bit of video that I have recorded from FTA, removed ads and kept - I tend to buy content I really like, but keep 'second rate' movies and a number of TV shows that I recorded.

The server is on Win10 and has 15TB of storage in a pooled array using StableBit Pooldrive to present the pool as one large drive. This also keeps duplicate copies of each file on separate physical disks for redundancy and protect against disk failure. The serve

I tend to like physical media for the stuff I really want to keep - just a bit old school I guess - and generally don't rip them. Mainly DVD, but a few Blu-Ray as well. For streaming catch-up TV, my TV handles that.

Anyway, I have had a brief look at the HTPC world and even played a little with MediaPortal, but I still can't find anything I like as much as WMC. I really like WMC's 10 foot interface (maybe I'm just comfortable with it after all this time) and I haven't found anything as yet that does the job as well for me.

So, what are the thoughts of people here? What should I look at for a good HTPC experience. Would I be foolish to stick with WMC? Am I just too old/jaded/lazy to put in the effort to learn new HTPC software?

 

[DaveF]

I have no experience with Windows 7 and WMC as a media server. I started with Win10. I know there are fans and adherents of Win7. And there's a good argument to be made that if your system is stable and works and does everything you want, leave it alone (if it ain't broke...)

I run a Win10 HTPC and use Emby. But for DVR, I use TiVo. The near simultaneous demise of Ceton's six-tuner card and WMC, and the arrival of six-tuner TiVo's spelled the end of Windows as a DVR platform in my consideration. And if I really cared, I could setup my HTPC to automatically download content from TiVo to the server. But I view TV as mostly ephemeral and generally don't archive it.

From a media server standpoint: running Emby or Plex or Kodi on a Win10 box, and streaming from a Shield or FireStick or Apple TV client works very well. Windows 10 per se as a playback client has proven to me to be too fussy and problematic. But it gives the most flexibility and graphic processing capacities, if that's of interest.

And finally, a modern PC with Win10 can play back HD and UHD content. But if you're really only interested in DVD content, there may be no reason to upgrade your server.

 

[John Dirk]

I've been using my HTPC for over 10 years now and agree that Windows 7 was the better platform, especially with WMC built right in and backed by Microsoft. When the death bell first began to ring for WIN 7 I took alert and started making alternate plans. Some things were hard to say goodbye to such as Arcsoft's wonderful TMT software. Even today I don't think we're back to where we already were with Win 7 as far as the HTPC experience is concerned. Of course this is by design. Microsoft wasn't shy about their predictions and opinions of the HTPC market when they rolled out Win 10. They basically said they wanted nothing more to do with it and, as the saying goes, "you can't fight City Hall."

As is often the case however, 3rd party vendors have done their best to fill the vacuum left by WIN 7 and WMC [without fighting City Hall] via use of Microsoft API's to port their solutions.. Among them are some of the products already mentioned in this thread and then there are others such as jRiver, which I currently use alongside Kodi's latest iteration, "Leia" [18.3]. I've been using Kodi off and on for a long time now and this is easily the most stable and robust versions, especially if you take advantage of some of the preloaded alternate skins. There's also Media Portal and perhaps some other options I don't have personal experience with.

For me though, at this point, I've accepted the fact that my HTPC is now considered "niche." It will remain my daily nerve system for general usage [music, DVD playback, etc] as its overall integration and convenience simply cannot be beat, but I have moved onto standalone players [like my Oppo 203] for critical viewing of 4K material, etc. They both currently coexist in my world, each serving a very specific purpose.

 

[GlenR]

Thanks for your thoughts. I must admit that, right now, I am hedging towards the "if it ain't broke..." school of thought. Since the HTPC is a dedicated box, I don't think the ending of official MS support will be a problem in the short term.

However, I think I need to get back "out there" and see what alternatives are around, just in case.

The use of a combination of software to meet the HTPC needs is interesting. John, can you elaborate on why you are using both jRiver and Kodi? Does one fill a perceived gap in the other?

 

[John Dirk]

The use of a combination of software to meet the HTPC needs is interesting. John, can you elaborate on why you are using both jRiver and Kodi? Does one fill a perceived gap in the other?

Please forgive my delayed response. I've been travelling.

The simple answer to your question is "because I can." I have a lifetime JRiver license and Kodi is free for all.

Here's the detailed answer. Earlier versions of Kodi had limitations I couldn't live with. Most of my problems were with crashes and the audio engine. You might want to check out some Kodi Wiki's for more information on the audio stuff. The latest version [18.3] has been rock solid in my environment. If it crashes I usually know why and can take steps to prevent recurrences.

JRiver certainly has its issues [complicated UI, etc] but it is also among the most robust players I've seen. As always, YMMV but, if you're not familiar, I would recommend giving it a try.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Count me as one that's still using Win7 on my HTPC, and still using WMC as my DVR and video player.

My concern is whether Microsoft will still pay to provide the guide listings after January.

 

[John Dirk]

Count me as one that's still using Win7 on my HTPC, and still using WMC as my DVR and video player.

In my humble opinion, the problem with this approach is [just like with Windows XP] Microsoft will not let you peacefully continue to use an OS they have officially declared dead no matter how well regarded it might be with their customer base. If history is an indicator [and it always is] Windows 7 will become increasingly slow and unreliable to the point where you'll be forced to upgrade. In this case I chose to follow Microsoft's directive with my HTPC since I had already been running Windows 10 without issue on my other [work and home] PC's for awhile.

My concern is whether Microsoft will still pay to provide the guide listings after January.

Honestly, I'm surprised you're getting them now. Bill Gates may have become a bleeding heart in his old age [he wasn't always like that] but he handed Microsoft over to folks even he would probably have been afraid of in his day.