Computerworld: “Though Microsoft has not gone public about whether there will be a separate Media Center release for Windows Vista, it's very likely Microsoft will eschew a separate edition in favor of building Media Center features directly into the edition of Vista that goes out on most consumer machines, said Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft Inc.”
Dear Microsoft;
When you release Vista, there are going to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of consumers, people like me, that will be upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
When they do this, they will probably just end up buying a whole new machine from Dell, Toshiba (or Apple 
) that includes the new version of Windows bundled in.
This means that all of these people, including me, will be stuck with older machines that, while functional, won’t have much use around the house anymore.
I would very much like it if you made it easy (not free, just easy) for me to upgrade this older, but still quite functional, personal computer from Windows XP to Windows Media Center. Think of it – potentially millions of people adopting a Microsoft product in a way that will be really important for you. If you make it available, I promise that my current desktop will move from my home office to my living room about 30 seconds after I install my shiny new Media Center software.
So whaddya think?
Ross - could you clarify whether you're interested in a Windows XP Media Centre Edition upgrade for the old PC (eg, knock it from Pro to MCE without a full reinstall?)
The way I read it, you're buying a new PC, don't want to upgrade the old one to Vista, just XP MCE.
(by the way, registration for Blogware seems extreme to post a comment - I'm sure it cuts right down on comments, but is there a middle ground?)
I'm looking to get MCE functionality for my old PC - preferably through some legitimate means :) I'm not 100% familiar with Microsoft's proposed plans in this area, so this might already be in the works, but ideally, I'd just like to spend some dough to buy a license to something that lets me install MCE bits (or whatever) on my old PC so that I can use it as a media server.
If that comes wrapped in a Vista box, that's fine, just so long as I can buy a license for my old box. The function, not the form, is what is important to me.
Re: comment registration, I've set the bar pretty high for my blog. Your right, it does discourage comments of all kinds, but I just can't be bothered to spend the time dealing with spam. Your mileage will vary with other Blogware blogs...(comment policy is determined locally).