I agree. Streaming network content to the xbox 360 is the easiest media centre I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I also happen to be one of the lucky ones who has bought 2 xbox 360s and never had either of them RROD in 2.5 years.

While the media centre offerings on XP can be a hassle to set up - Vista is only slightly less time consuming - the Win 7 setup is by far the easiest and fastest, even compared with 3rd party options like TVersity. With the appropriate codecs installed, simply add the folder to the Videos libraries and in Media Player click "Stream -> More streaming options...". Give permission for the 360 to access your PCs media library, wait for Media Player to index the files, then navigate to the video library on the 360. A list of network devices with media streaming capabilities will appear after a few seconds and simply follow the folder structure to access the file you want to watch.

While it doesn't allow you to stream internet media, the Netflix service is available for U.S. residents. TVersity will also allow you to subscribe to internet video feeds if local network content is not enough. I am using my desktop PC and a WD My Book World NAS (which natively supports media streaming via PVConnect [TwonkyMedia] and automatically shows up under the xbox video library device list) to download and feed all my music and video, respectively. Any sufficient network should be able to support all types of media, even using the xbox wireless adapter (802.11g) has enough bandwidth to stream 720p HDTV x264 content without waiting to buffer.

For my needs, this setup fits perfectly. Obviously OzPeter has a much narrow focus for what he wants to do but if others have similar requirements as myself then I can't recommend this enough. I never thought we would see the day when a Microsoft product would "just work" but kudos to them for coming this far.

DirectX 11. Also not available on Mac or Linux.

W7 has labels too, just not on by default (right-click taskbar -> Properties -> Taskbar buttons: [always combine, hide labels/combine when taskbar is full/never combine]). As for XPs preview panes, I shouldn't have to install a bunch of 3rd party programs just to get previews, jump lists, window transparency, search index from the start menu, media sharing to compatible devices (Windows Mobile, Xbox 360, Media Center PCs etc). These features really make a difference to your regular eye-candy suck.. er, consumer. Not as big a difference for the power users, but I've come to appreciate them and genuinely regard them as worthwhile improvements to the Windows platform.

Love it when posters don't read the summary. The vulnerability was found in libpurple. Not the MSN service.

This is already a reality: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/01/gun-mount-and-s/

Allow me to direct you to where this belongs: http://www.4chan.org/

Additionally, which 5% are we talking about? Does it fail every 57min for 3min reliably? Every 19min for 60sec? Every minute for 3sec? Or every 10sec for half a second?

Breaking it down like that and what do you get? A very small delay between reaction times every few seconds. Perhaps not even a noticeable delay since their optimal response time is 0.125sec

Now you're just providing me with free entertainment. I couldn't get value this good from a money tree! You've got some issues, I suggest you post more to get it out of your system. Better yet, keep trying to justify the supposed validity of your arguements to me for my own private amusement, and I promise to keep baiting you with 4-sentence replies!

Ha! Let it rest man. I know what I said and this new article still doesn't prove anything that you claimed. It's just another example for the pile of crap but of the thousands - perhaps hundreds of thousands? - of MS articles since the beginning of the year, how many do you suppose were actually paid for either directly or indirectly? Not "all of them" I'll bet. It's this hyperbole that makes people like you no better than the fear-mongering mass media. It's a dirty, despicable tactic which I despise.

Oh, nice to see that you hold grudges too. It's been 3 days, let it go.

I understand they have a proven track record for this kind of behaviour - it doesn't mean I do or don't take this article as the word of God Himself - but does that mean every blogger and/or reputable news source since the start of the year has been "paid for either directly or indirectly by MS or a MS cross promotion, back room deal."

This was the point the grand-grand-whatever parent was making and it's that blatant falsification of "fact" that really pisses me off. Yes, they more than certainly paid some manufacturers and publications to give them good publicity in recent history (let's not exclude Apple or nVidia or Intel from doing the same thing), but there is currently no evidence to support it in this case. Until you or I or the original claimant can provide it then by all means, but for now it's pure anecdotal speculation.

Oh snap, you got me!

I admit now that I've never read anything negative about Microsoft in my entire life. I blindly use Microsoft products trusting they know what's best for me as a mindless consumer of all things expunged from the brightly shinng, fresh-scented arsehole of a godless mega-corporation.

You've just outed me to the entire world. I am shamed and humiliated. I will now cry in the corner while cutting myself...

Naturally, I agree completely. However, one article is not proof of "any and all articles since the beginning of the year" as the GP claimed. It has no doubt happened several times this year which we will probably never know about, but to dismiss every pro-Microsoft article out-of-hand just because they say Android isn't technically mature enough yet is either naive or unfairly biased.

Slashdot needs a "-1 Citation Needed" option.

You're not alone...

They've been saying this for several years now. "'X' driver support is getting better everyday!" "'Y' new distro will solve device compatibility issues!" "'Z' developer will have perfect Windows API integration and then the average user won't notice the difference!"

Puh-lease. Mod me what you like but the fact remains that, while there have been some damn good advances towards this state, "much longer" is not a quantifiable term. The linux zealots out there are predicting The Year of the Linux Desktop but are they really doing anything to make it happen? The Users' Home is the place of the Linux Desktop and Ubuntu is the most notable distro behind the movement, but they're not going to do it alone. It needs to be a global and unified effort across the entire linux community, and this is the biggest challenge facing them against the public Windows opinion.

Businesses are a good start because if they can get Windwos-equivalent software -- not "Windows-only-just-good-enough-for-most-users" software -- on their employees workstations then the home will follow naturally.

Well they weren't testing the network latency itself. They were testing the effects of additional latency and how much of an impact it had on users' habits (in other words, it wasn't based on the users' experience). From the results I would assume they've discovered a "magic number - or at least a number range - of latency", so-to-speak; the fine balance between users' patience and not affecting their habits...