We Got Served

You may remember a post from a few weeks back about a new upcoming Media Center beta.  This survey was to provide Microsoft hardware information of your computer to determine if it would meet the requirements needed to test the new beta.

Last weekend I went to the Iowa-Minnesota football game in Minneapolis.  My wife and I go there do enjoy the game, gamble a bit, and just have some fun.  Iowa decimated Minnesota.  While not a necessity, it does make the trip more enjoyable.

When I returned home, I had to check my emails, of course.  I had an email from Microsoft.  I needed to complete another Media Center survey.  I am quite interested in this beta, so off to Microsoft Connect I went.  The email I received from Microsoft is as follows (minus the invitation code):

Action Requested

Greetings from Windows Media Center!
Thank you for completing the Media Center hardware survey.  We now have your updated hardware information for the Media Center beta pool.  At this time, we request you to take a follow-up survey which will provide us information about your multimedia experience and usage.  Please complete the following instructions to access this survey:

Instructions:

1. Go to http://connect.microsoft.com

2. Enter the following invitation code on the Connect main page, where it says “Were you invited to join Connect?”: XXX-XXXX-XXXX

3. Complete Survey

If you experience any problems or need to ask a question, please contact us at wmcbeta@microsoft.com. 
Thank-you for your participation, and we look forward to hearing from you!

-Windows Media Center Beta Team-

I hope everyone who competed the first survey got the 2nd survey invite.  The more people who can test and submit feedback, the better.  The one downside that I can see right now is having to play the waiting game for when they release the beta.  Assuming, of course, that I make it to that stage…

As a side note, this is a couple of my guesses and hopes:

• The next version of MC will play nice with Vista and Windows 7.  I do, of course, assume that this is the Media Center application that will eventually be incorporated into Windows 7.
• As this is a separate beta from Windows 7, I can hope that MC might become a separate entity from Windows.  Bundle it with Windows 7 Home/Ultimate, or whatever they will call it.  And, of course, Windows Home Server!  But also make it a separate program from Windows.  Make it compatible with Vista in it’s final form.  The reason I hope for this is that Windows OS’s should have a relatively stable existence through it’s product life.  Media Center applications, however, are a constantly evolving piece of software which must be able to evolve *quickly* as media standards evolve and change.  Separating MC from Windows, by not tying it so closely to the OS, would hopefully allow quicker development and updates as standards change.  Heck, who knows.  We could see a couple of versions of MC be released while Windows 7 is the current Microsoft OS.