ENTERTAINMENT
While 3D games and high-definition video came later, XP is even now still able to put on a good show, using free media players such as VLC Player (www. videolan.org), which gets round XP s lack of DVD codec support. Capitalising on the growing demand for home entertainment systems, Microsoft launched a Media Center Edition of XP in 2002 that came with one or two TV tuners, though it wasn t until the 2005 version of MCE that DVDrecording capabilities were included. Vista came with basic DVD support and let you rip CDs as MP3s.
Apart from the business editions, all versions of Vista came with Windows Media Center. By this time, TV tuners were commonly included on graphics cards. Media Center s stored recordings are in Microsoft s .WTV format, which never really took . This could mean recordings are likely to languish unplayed unless you ve still got Media Center.
However, if you ve still got recordings from Vista and Media Center s every day you can still watch them because Windows 7 can convert them into DVR-MS format and play them. If you don t have Media Player on your current PC just right-click the video file and click Convert to .dvr-ms Format . In 2005, our viewing habits changed when home broadband took o and YouTube launched. Now we were watching and downloading online video and TV instead of our personal libraries, so Media Center became largely redundant.
Unlike its rivals, Windows 7 works with almost any video and music format. Its improved Windows Media Player also adds a Play To option that streams music and video to other PCs on your home network or to an Xbox. Unfortunately the Play To concept didn t really take o because it worked with so few devices. The Home Premium and UItimate versions of Windows 7 also include Remote Media Streaming, which lets you watch or listen to anything stored in Windows Media Player through a web connection. Windows 8 includes the excellent Media Player 12,
Worse still, you can t play DVDs in Windows 8 unless you download a separate program - a decision that probably reflects Microsoft s focus on connected devices that play digital content you download or stream.
Windows XP supports DirectX 9 and plays older games surprisingly well, but Vista was initially criticised for its gaming. This was a driver problem that s since been resolved. While Vista is slower than Windows 7, it now plays most games and DVDs perfectly well. Adding more RAM and turning o the fancy Aero 3D effect in Display will helps.
Windows 7 and 8 support DirectX and thus multi-core processors, fancy shading and lifelike 3D animation and graphics. Either OS is fine for gamers.
Result
Windows XP = 8.0 Windows Media Player manages music, video and web radio
Windows Vista =6.0 Home Premium and Ultimate are best for music, videos and gaming, but Vista doesn t always run smoothly
Widows 7 =8.0 Solid gaming, music, radio and video options but the limited ways to use Play To don t impress
Windows 8 =8.0 Plays and streams HD videos but you have to pay to use Media Center and DVDs can t be played
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