Chapter 26

Using Media Center

IN THIS CHAPTER

Playing music with Media Center

Enjoying slide shows and movies

Watching and recording TV

Personalizing Media Center

Windows Media Center is an optional program that is available to Windows 8 Pro users. It brings all your media (pictures, music, video) together in one easy-to-use center. If you connect your computer to a TV, you can use Media Center to enjoy them on a TV screen. If the graphics card that lets you connect to a TV screen came with a Windows Media Center remote control, you can control Media Center with that. No need to use a mouse and keyboard.

A second advantage of Media Center is that it allows you to watch and record live TV, but this requires special hardware in the form of a TV tuner card or PVR (Personal Video Recorder) card.

This chapter first looks at those aspects of Media Center that work with any computer. That way, if you have Media Center, you can try out the things that will work for you. Features that require special equipment are discussed later in the chapter.

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