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Media Center Gets a Makeover

Microsoft makes a more concerted move into the living room with a freshened version of its entertainment-oriented operating system.

Alan Stafford

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Extend Your Reach

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Photograph: Marc Simon
Want to watch Media Center content on your bedroom TV? For about $300, you can buy a Media Center Extender from any of a number of companies such as Dell, HP, Linksys, and Tatung. Extenders have wireless networking capabilities, and they come with a wide selection of outputs. If you own an Xbox, you can purchase the Media Center Extender for Xbox for $80.

Under Microsoft's revised digital rights management implementation, you can access even copy-protected audio and video. An 802.11a or 802.11g network has enough bandwidth to allow up to five devices to use Extender simultaneously--fewer if one or more of them are receiving video.

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