Via Ian Dixon, I read Andrew Grant’s account of his experiment running Windows Media Center on a Windows Home Server machine.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but will note in passing that Andrew’s experiment ended very quickly. 😉

For a lot of people, this is the holy grail. I continue to believe that the reverse configuration makes more sense today, with Home Server running in a dedicated VM on a Media Center machine.

Maybe in 3-5 years Media Center will be written in such a way that it can run as a role on a server. But not today.

If you’re using Internet Explorer, take a few minutes today to visit Windows Update and pick up the out-of-band security update, KB960714, released a few minutes ago. (If you’re too busy, at least make sure that Automatic Updates is turned on so you get the patch overnight). This update fixes a critical zero-day vulnerability that is being actively exploited on websites worldwide.

Even if you normally use another browser, you should install this update as soon as possible.

Full technical details, including download links for standalone installers for different combinations of IE and Windows versions, are in this security bulletin.

If you click that link, you’ll notice that there’s no direct download option for those running IE8 Beta 2. The FAQ section says you still need this update:

Is the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 release affected by this vulnerability?
Yes. This vulnerability was reported after the release of Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. Customers running Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 are encouraged to download and apply the update to their systems.

On my 64-bit Windows Vista system, which is running a post-Beta 2 build of IE8, Windows Update automatically installed the KB960714 update for IE7. I suspect this is normal behavior, but I’ll check with Microsoft to make sure this configuration is correct.

Follow-up: If you’re running a private post-Beta 2 build of IE8, you’ll need to download an updated version of the browser code instead of a standalone update. Assuming you’re an authorized tester, you should get e-mail explaining how to get the new version.

Here’s what the update looks like for systems running the PDC build of Windows 7:

The Windows Live Essentials programs are exactly what they claim to be: essential for any Windows user. So it’s good news that the Windows Live team has released a final beta (essentially a release candidate) today. The new package includes services (such as Favorites Sync) that have not previously been publicly available. The LiveSide gang has a nice roundup of what’s new.

Before I give you the address where you can download the code, though, I have to tweak my friend and colleague Paul Thurrott, who wrote today:

Don’t be confused by other sites: This is not a beta release. What you’re seeing is the near-final version of virtually every Windows Live Essentials application and service being released today.

Yes, do not be confused by those other sites. Like, you know, the blog written by the Windows Live team, which actually wrote this code and is coordinating this release. This is still a beta, judging by their post today (I’ve added bold for emphasis).

We’re getting very close to the final release. But before we get there, we’re refreshing the beta versions one more time to make sure we’ve ironed out all the kinks. You can get the latest betas from: http://download.live.com/.

We’re working hard to get the final versions ready to go as soon as possible. So let us know what you like and don’t like, and if you’re running into any issues that we need to take care of before we take the “beta” tags off.

Paul’s point, once you sweep aside the hyperbole, is that these are feature-complete, stable programs, and you shouldn’t let the “beta” label scare you off. I’ve been using them for months and think these are wonderful programs, across the board. Hey, I even like and use the Windows Live toolbar, and I normally hate browser toolbars.

Highly recommended. Go get it. But read the release notes (PDF) first, especially if you’re running the IE8 Beta.

I’ve just updated to WordPress 2.7 (thank you again, WordPress Automatic Upgrade). In the process, I switched to a new spam-comment-filtering solution. That will probably mean some false positives and some quarantines in the near term until I get it fine-tuned. Sorry in advance.

I close comments after a few weeks. The alternative is mountains of comment spam, which I’m tired of dealing with. Oh, and just to be clear: I reserve the right to edit or delete any comment, any time. You get a lot of leeway if you’ve been a part of the discussion here before. If you’re a newcomer (if you have not previously had a comment published on this site), it will be held for moderation. I delete random snark, juvenile insults, and off-topic comments.

When posting a comment, I request that you use your real name and your real e-mail address (the e-mail details are not publicly available). I occasionally contact commenters to offer help or ask a follow-up question. If you use a fake address, I can’t reach you.

If you’re a student at a U.S. educational institution, you qualify for some pretty insane deals Office and Windows. Microsoft’s Ultimate Steal program allows students to order Office Ultimate 2007 for $59.95 (no, that’s not a typo) and Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade Edition (regular or Product RED branded) for $65.

The licenses are perpetual, meaning you get to continue using the software even if you quit school. And I see nothing in the terms and conditions that prevents using this copy for commercial purposes.

You need to have a .edu e-mail address and you need to swear on a stack of college transcripts that you are currently enrolled in school with at least 0.5 credits. Full details here.

Offer ends December 31, 2010.

The online service formerly known as FolderShare has been reborn, with a few enhancements, as Windows Live Sync. I used it briefly during its beta period in the last few months and it seemed fast and reliable.

You can get more details from this introductory blog post by the Live Sync team. A new discussion group is also available for support.

If you have any experiences to share, please leave them in the comments.

There’s a tendency among Media Center enthusiasts to focus on advanced features, especially those that are related to TV. As the owner of two CableCARD-equipped Vista Media Center PCs and a slew of extenders, I know I think of Media Center as strictly a high-end living-room device.

For Windows 7 Inside Out, I’m responsible for the digital media chapters, including our coverage of Windows Media Center. In using the program on my desktop PC I’ve been extremely impressed so far by the little stuff that you don’t notice until you have used a program for a while.

In particular, I like the way that the Media Center team has enhanced the way I can tag songs and pictures as favorites (using a scale of 1-5 stars) and then filter my playlist or slide show to just those items. New in Windows 7 is top-level menu placement for a Play Favorites option, which replaces the Play All option in both the Music and Pictures strip.

To choose which items from my library get played as favorites, I can use high rating (4 or 5 stars), or create a custom playlist or slide show, or designate a folder full of photos. Here, for example, is the Favorite Music setup screen:

That’s nice, but the killer addition is the improvement in the way you tag songs or pictures as favorites. As I noted back in January 2008, it takes seven cumbersome steps with the remote control (or a  mouse) to rate a song or picture in Windows Vista Media Center:

Isn’t that overly complicated? You should be able to get to the rating screen for any song with no more than one or two button presses.

And now you can. The first time you rate an item in Windows 7’s Media Center, you see this option:

Press OK to enable shortcuts, and from that point on the number keys on the remote control (or the keyboard) allow you to instantly add ratings to the current song or picture. You’re listening to a song and you hate it? Pick up the remote and press 1. Love it? Press 5. I especially like the ability to go through a folder full of newly imported photos and rate each one with a single button press.

This kind of improvement doesn’t get much notice in first-look reviews. But in day to day use, it’s one of those things you quickly learn to appreciate. I’m actually seeing a lot of small but genuinely useful improvements like this as I dig into Windows 7.

DirecTV subscribers who are also Media Center fans have been on a roller-coaster ride this year. First an aborted beta test of the long-rumored HDPC-20 tuner, then confirmation that Windows 7 includes drivers for the hardware, and finally an actual live sighting of the hardware just a few weeks ago.

Alas, it’s not to be. DirecTV officially announced today that it has discontinued development of the HDPC-20. I’ve got details and the full statement at ZDNet.

The Fox News Tech Q&A column gets a question that includes this bit in the middle:

If in a year’s time I do my annual PC-cleansing routine of FORMAT C:, OS re-install, patch/update and Acronis image, what am I going to have to do to get a machine that works…

Uh, hello? The reason you use an image-based backup like Acronis True Image is because you don’t want to have to go through that “annual PC-cleansing routine”! Seriously, why would someone go to the trouble of doing a clean install, snapping a system image to save that clean install, and then not use that image later? You do that once. Then next year, if you think that it’s necessary to start with a clean system, you restore that image, add patches for the OS and apps, install any new programs you’ve added in the previous year, and then snap a new image.

By the way, this particular user is adamantly clinging to XP.

Stupid user? I report, you decide.