Windows XP Media Center 20th Anv. - Gateway FMC-901X

On October 29th 2022 it will have been 20 years since Microsoft released Windows XP Media Center Edition, an unusual offshoot version of their flagship OS. With completely different features and some huge problems it was an interesting release to say the least. Today we are taking an look at what it could do and what some of its faults were while also taking a look at one of the PCs that best used it. A Gateway FMC-901X.


Here are some ways to help me make more videos!

Buy some Merch:

Leave a one time tip:

Amazon Wishlist for Production Gear:

Become a monthly supporter:

Other Links

[WizardTim]

This brought back some horrible memories of dealing with disgusting anti-consumer DVD region locking, Windows Media Center (later versions at least) would allow a limited number of region changes which you could abuse to reset the counter but it was still a pain to constantly have to switch and reset, soon found out that software like VLC just ignored region locking, never looked back.

[succuvamp_anna]

2005 edition was a MASSIVE upgrade, it was basically XP Pro with Media Center tacked on, it's the edition I would run back in the day.

[jonathanschober]

This was a wonderful memory. My dad and I bonded a lot setting up a custom built machine with Media Center. He worked at Dell and had access to MSDN, so he could get the ISOs. We ran the 2005 version and had both analog and when it became standard, DTV tuner cards. We also ripped music and used it exactly as intended for many many years

[xDownSetx]

I used Vista's Media Center a ton back in the day and it was definitely my favorite version. With a Hauppauge dual tuner I was loving life. That is until our cable company encrypted all of their channels and the fun came to an abrupt end.

[MeatBattery]

Had Gateway Media Center for my main TV for several years. Was kinda crusty, but with the right tuner card and network connection to my DVD server, was ahead of its time in some ways. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[TheDuumiMuumi]

My first so-called "own TV" was actually a TV tuner card in my computer, I used Media Center app with that. It actually worked pretty well.

[swc]

I was big into the HTPC craze in the late 00s and honestly i'm still into them now even though I have no real use for one, love seeing these funky machines and all the cool addons that used to be out there. I was never much of a gamer so I can't commentate on the video card driver situation, but I can tell you that it was possible to obtain MCE legitimately from computer parts distributors as a white box OEM copy. MediaCenter's UX is second to none even today, it was better at watching TV than my actual TV, had An Add-In For That and could be hacked to high hell. It's loss is lamented by the few that still care.

[brostenen]

I remember building XP-MCE machines from scratch in 2003 to 2006 as an option customers could choose when buying computers. The trick was to find a tuner card, that was compatible. And you needed nvidia pure motion software as well as a bunch of codecs. Other than that, machines were just based on standard PC hardware. Like Asus P5G motherboards, and Radeon gfx.

[Primal]

Your Windows XP vids are top notch, I thoroughly enjoy your appreciation for this era. Currently on the hunt for an XP Media Center! Please continue more of these XP era vids! Especially to go as far as having a period correct desk even! Kudos and props!

[TheIrisCZ]

Oh, I remember these. The Media Center PCs never really clicked with the people in Czech republic, where I live and because of that, there was a lot of unsold stock in electronics shops soon after their launch. It got so bad, they started running sales on these computers and just for the price of the hardware alone, it was a steal for anyone capable of running normal Windows on these computers. Because some of them were meant as the "family computers", the higher tiers even had quite capable GPUs for some gaming. I wanted to grab one back then, but didn't have the money. But my friend did and if I remember correctly, he used it for at least 5 years and had only the best things to say about that beast for that price.

[rkrenicki]

Another big factor of MCE was CableCard support. That is why there were special drivers for the video cards, and the BIOS of the computers had special things in them as well so that encrypted Cable TV could be properly decrypted and protected while being displayed and recorded. That particular unit does not have the PCI CableCard card, but it was an option on most if not all of the models out there.

[konradstrachan]

I used Vista + 7s Media Center a LOT back in the day - I built a dedicated media centre PC for exactly this purpose. It was pretty fun optimising hardware selection to make something slim and silent.

[cyclerical]

By memory mediacenter ran Iris an internal replacement for GDI, kind of like skia (google purchased this compositor) and core graphics for Mac, but I don't think many outside of Microsoft knew about it. It is such a pity it didn't end up in the original Windows Mobile proper (I think Zune ran it though), it was one of the reasons (IMHO) iPhone nailed the UI for mobile devices. Great video mate, such high quality content 😀👍

[HouseOfFunQM]

Anyone who might be a little lost: this wildly predates e.g. Spotify, any streaming music.

We basically all used iTunes or Winamp, and would share giant (50GB lol) USB hard drives with our entire music collection on.

You'd end up with mountains of duplicates, different quality rips, shit radio records, accidental porn videos, and loads of other crap xD

[ShadeAssault]

My first PC that was my own was a Sony VAIO with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and an nVidia GeForce 6150LE. It came with WinXP Media Center on it. At the time I was just getting into computers and learning operating systems and such so I ended up with Win98, WinXP Pro, multiple Linux distros, and eventually Windows 7 on it. Always wondered why WinXP Media Center was so hard to get reinstalled and now I know why.

I tried using the media center stuff, but I was more interested in games at the time so never got into it. After watching this video, I realize that system was probably the best thing in our household.

Thanks for the great content! Keep it up!

[TehPoopDood]

Media Center looks so sexy, even today. It may even blend into the new material design craze quite well!

Such a cool look back at a time that I didn't get to experience, being a media buff back then would have been so exciting!

[reggiebenes]

I built my own with a Vista computer with Media Center and it worked great. I think they fixed some of the issues from the XP version, and if not it was pretty easy to get most stuff working since it was basically a regular PC. It would still lag pretty bad though with a huge music collection, but I always loved the interface.

[MichaelSeneschal]

I love channels like this! What a fantastic job. Thanks for making this.

[philly.c-youtube]

This takes me back!
I built my own media center PC back in the day, just in a normal (very cheap) case and a very mediocre AMD Sempron, even manged to get the OEM remote from a retailer in the UK called Novatech (still going today) Media Center itself I "acquired" elsewhere 😄
Was great for playing back downloaded content and I seem to remember even having MAME running on it.

It wasn't a patch on this beast though!

[trileneq]

Thank you for making the video about this computer. Found it in a Goodwill for $10 fully intact (sans remote) and working to get it back up and running for using with my old consoles and CRT from the era.