Using Microsoft's Media Center shell as a home entertainment center is very convenient. A PC connected to a TV replaces several units of household appliances at once. To expand the capabilities of the media center, you can use gadgets. Perhaps the most interesting will be MCE RSS Reader, My Movies 2 and MCEPhone.
MCE RSS Reader allows you to read RSS feeds directly from the TV screen. When using the Microsoft Remote Control, now it is not necessary to get up from the sofa to read online news. The Vista version requires free registration on the website.
My Movies 2 will help you create a convenient catalog of movies. The built-in function of copying movies to the hard disk, and then automatically adding them to the catalog will be a pleasant surprise for the user. Filtering the video library by various parameters will help you quickly find the right movie, and parental control will limit the viewing of "adult" movies for children.
MCEPhone adds the good old Skype to the main menu of the media center. Skype itself must be pre-installed on the computer. The MCEPhone is not free ($19.90), but after 30 days of testing you will be able to determine whether to buy it or not.
All of the above programs work with Windows XP Media Center Edition and Media Center in Vista.
Wait for reviews of other gadgets in further articles.
