I have media center and I really don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong people (and I'm sure you will) but I'm almost positive MCE runs off of Pro with a different interface for media than Windows Media Player or Windows Fax and Picture viewer. I believe it also has some compatability with the XBOX 360 but again I am not positive. I know one of the main features it keeps trying to shove down my throat is the DVR capability. It works pretty well... so I'm told anyway.
I found it to be like Home/Pro, only big on support for TVPC-type stuff like remotes, TV-cards, etc. Then again all these things also work with the "plain" versions of WinXP, and just great on a television.
I recall WinMCE coming with an interface much like TiVo, but BeyondTV can do the same thing, costs less, and has far more features. IMO it's Microsoft's gimmicky way of getting into the family room PC market.
media centre does something weird with media player... it seems to have media player running in the background at all times. For example, if I'm watching a film on my media centre box in media player and I quit out of media player it continues playing the film...I have to go back into media player and stop the film. Also, if I'm watching a film using BSPLayer or something (basically any other player) and accidently hit the play button on my remote media player will start playing whatever is in its playlist in the background. Most annoying. Other than that it's basically XP, but I'm not sure if it's pro or home.
Comments
I recall WinMCE coming with an interface much like TiVo, but BeyondTV can do the same thing, costs less, and has far more features. IMO it's Microsoft's gimmicky way of getting into the family room PC market.