Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 23.6

This confirma-

tion screen gives

you another

opportunity to

allow Media

Center to down-

load guide data

automatically.

Online Spotlight

Besides the program guide and possibly the ability to look up audio CDs on the

Web, the most important reason to have your Media Center PC hooked up to the

Internet may be the ability to take advantage of Online Spotlight.

Introduced along with Microsoft’s first major refresh of the Media Center software in

September 2003, Online Spotlight is a showcase for Microsoft partners to offer con-

tent and services using Media Center’s 10-foot interface. In general, this means that

all the offerings in Online Spotlight are accessible using your remote control, and

the screens adhere to the basic Media Center design—from the big, bold typeface for

titles and descriptions, to the predominantly blue-and-white color scheme, with

green highlights to show you what you’ve selected (see Figure 23.7).

In the next few pages, we’ll take a look at some of the types of services and content

available through the Online Spotlight portal. Categories can change as new com-

panies decide to partner with Microsoft, but as of the Online Spotlight launch, they

included the following:

■ Music

■ Movies

■ News

■ Download

■ Tips

CHAPTER 23 XP MEDIA CENTER AND YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION

317

FIGURE 23.7

The MSN TV

news headlines

page from

Online Spotlight

is designed for

Media Center’s

10-foot experi-

ence.

To access a particular service, select the category name. Online

Spotlight will present you with a list of providers in

that category. You can then select the service or

product you want to try (see Figure 23.8).

Music

The initial Online Spotlight music partners

included the resurrected Napster music download

service, and streaming audio service

Live365.com. Let’s take a brief look at each

provider.

Napster

The rise and fall—and rise again—of Napster is

the stuff of legend in the Dot-Com world. The

once high-flying file-swapping service boasted

millions of subscribers at one point, nearly all

engaged in the ultimately illegal act of trading

copyrighted material without paying any royalties

Up to this point, most of

the features available

from Media Center have

been free—with the

exception of your Internet

service, of course. Now that you’re

getting ready to venture into the

Online Spotlight area, be prepared:

Many of the services featured here

will not be a free ride. Be on the

lookout for subscription and down-

load costs, and have your credit

card handy if you plan to sample

the merchandise.

caution

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 23.8

Selecting a cate-

gory title, such

as Music, in

Online Spotlight

gives you access

to individual

content

providers.

Unlike most of the initial Online Spotlight providers, the new Napster requires that

Media Center users exit to a Windows-based browser to sign up (see Figure 23.9).

After you sign up, the service promises to give you access to a half-million songs, at

the affordable price of 99 cents per track, or $9.95 for a full album. The songs come

in pristine digital form, and allow unlimited listens from your Media Center PC

(some restrictions on use apply, however, if you want to burn the songs onto a

recordable CD).

Live365.com

Tired of commercial radio, and its inevitable rehash of tired old Top 40 tunes?

Choosing Live365.com (see Figure 23.10) sends you directly to the company’s volu-

minous library of live streaming “radio” stations. If your musical tastes tend to take

you off the beaten path, you’ll find every imaginable genre here, from alternative

rock to zither music. Best of all, it’s absolutely free.

to the copyright holders. A highly publicized court case eventually grounded

Napster, forcing it into bankruptcy. Roxio, a software company best known for its

CD-burning application for PCs, purchased the Napster name and relaunched it in

the Fall of 2003 as a pay-to-play download service. As such, it has the full support of

the beleaguered record industry.

CHAPTER 23 XP MEDIA CENTER AND YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION

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FIGURE 23.9

The first time

you try to access

the Napster

service, you’ll

see a message

like this.

FIGURE 23.10

Choosing

Live365.com’s

streaming audio

service launches

you directly into

a nirvana of free

music stations.