From DailyTech: Introduced in 2002, Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) was billed as a tool that would turn your Windows PC into a digital video recorder (DVR) and media hub. The star of the show was the titular Windows Media Center (WMC), which Microsoft had developed in the earlier half of the last decade under the codename "Freestyle."
Last Friday Microsoft announced that after more than a decade in the books, it was killing off the once prized product.
WMC had been a hyped feature in Windows XP MCE's immediate successors, Windows Vista and Windows 7. WMC provided a mixture of media hub features, including a TV tuner with channel guides, compatible with a modest array of service provider cablecards and TV-style remotes, even.
It also acted as a hub to gather up streaming video offerings, such as Netflix Inc.'s (NFLX) popular service. Development remained active for several years after the initial launch, with a major update dubbed "Fiji" landing in 2008 under the title "TV Pack 2008"
But with Windows 8 Microsoft sent a clear signal that it didn't see a future for a media center PC. Rather, it shifted its focus to the upcoming Xbox One, which launched in Nov. 2013. The Xbox One was billed as Microsoft's media center solution of choice.
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