In case you haven’t already heard, I wanted to let you know that we’ve launched Internet TV in Windows Media Center for Windows 7 users. Internet TV lets you watch videos from a variety of providers via the Internet right in Windows Media Center in addition to live and recorded TV (if you have a TV tuner for your PC).

For Windows 7, Internet TV has been updated with enhancements to the UI and features more content from new content providers. Those providers include the CBS Audience Network, Zune (Full Zune Video Podcast Library available), MSNBC, MSN, and more.

And you can access Internet TV right from the Guide in Windows Media Center!

Internet TV is currently now available for free for people running Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. The CBS Audience Network and the Zune Video Podcast Library in Internet TV is only be available within the U.S. but Internet TV is also available in the UK with content from Sky and MSN.

UPDATE: Internet TV will be able in the UK coming soon with content from Sky and MSN.

Also now available is Netflix for Windows Media Center in Windows 7!

Right from Windows Media Center, you can access your Instant Queue to play movies and TV shows and browse the Netflix library and add movies or TV shows to your Instant Queue or Instant Queue. Netflix in Windows Media Center is only available in the U.S. today as Netflix On-Demand (“Instant Watch”) videos are available only in the U.S.

Fire Windows Media Center in Windows 7 up today and give both Internet TV and Netflix a spin!

For more on Windows Media Center in Windows 7, I highlight recommend you check out my post from earlier last month on the 7 great things about Windows Media Center in Windows 7.

Brad Brooks demonstrated Internet TV and Netflix during the keynote at the New York City Windows 7 Launch Event on October 22^nd. You can watch the keynote from the event on-demand from the PressPass Windows 7 Virtual Presskit site.

Today, Windows 7 controls my home entertainment experience in my living room. It does so through Windows Media Center. I am using the same setup I blogged about here in 2007 with Windows 7 and it’s an amazing experience. Because of how well it works for me, I wanted to highlight 7 great things you can do with Windows Media Center in Windows 7. Windows 7 can easily be the center of your home entertainment experience just like it is with mine.

#1: Watch Live TV on your Windows 7 PC.

If your Windows 7 PC has a TV tuner, you can use Windows Media Center to watch, pause, and rewind live TV directly on your PC! If you’re Windows 7 PC doesn’t have a TV tuner, you can always add one – they are quite inexpensive.

Windows Media Center in Windows 7 supports High Definition TV (HDTV) capabilities as well. Earlier last month, we announced support for Switched Digital Video (SDV). We also announced that customers will now be able to add a digital cable tuner with CableCARD support to their PC. Previously, digital cable tuners with CableCARD support were only available on new PCs from OEMs that supported the configuration. Digital cable tuners with CableCARD support differ from standard TV tuner cards as they support digital cable through “CableCARDs” rented from your cable provider for digital cable channels. Assuming you have the right subscription, this enables you to access the full line-up of channels offered by your cable provider, including the premium channels.

There are also TV tuner cards that support “over-the-air” HDTV (ATSC) with an antenna as well as Clear QAM.

#2: Turn your Windows 7 PC into a DVR (Digital Video Recorder)!

Windows Media Center lets you schedule recordings of TV shows and movies. You can even schedule to record all instances (new episodes) of your favorite TV show! Windows Media Center also makes it very easy to view all your recorded content.

I talked about HDTV and the use of digital cable tuners with CableCARD support above. Microsoft and CableLabs are working together to allow people with digital cable tuners with CableCARD support more portability with their recorded digital cable TV. Recordings that are marked as “copy freely” (CF) will now be able to play on other PCs and portable devices.

#3: Easily find the TV shows and movies that you want to watch.

Windows Media Center has great search capabilities built-in so you can easily find all your favorite TV shows and movies. This makes it easier to schedule recordings.

#4: Access all your personal media in one place - no matter where it is.

Windows Media Center brings in all your digital media– photos, movies, music, and recorded TV shows – into one place. Windows Media Center also takes advantage of HomeGroup in Windows 7 and allows you to access digital media content from other PCs!

With recorded digital cable TV content marked as CF – you can share this content throughout your home network of Windows 7 PCs using HomeGroup (see #2 above). You can even access it when you are away from home with Remote Media Streaming in Windows 7.

#5: Track your favorite sports, players, and leagues.

If you’re a sports nut, you can use Windows Media Center to track your favorite teams and leagues. Windows Media Center lets you track scores, players, and leagues natively within Windows Media Center. You can also see quickly jump to sports on “now” and check sports coming on “later” in Windows Media Center too.

#6: Access your recorded TV and digital media where you want: on the PC or on the TV.

Windows 7 supports a variety of high end displays including HDTVs. You can connect your PC to your HDTV and use Windows Media Center to watch and view all your media. Of course this works with a standard PC monitor too. But because Windows 7 makes it easy to share your digital media, you can have 1 PC connected to your HDTV in your home for Windows Media Center and bring in content from all PCs on your home network to that single PC connected to your HDTV. You could also use the Extender for Windows Media Center technology built into your Xbox 360 to access the same Windows Media Center menu you are used to using on your PC.

#7: Watch movies and TV episodes instantly from Netflix in Windows Media Center in Windows 7.

Watch streaming “Instant Play” movies and TV shows from Netflix! Also add movies to your DVD queue if “Instant Play” is not available. Full control of your Netflix account right from Windows Media Center!

I hope these 7 great things about Windows Media Center give you some great ideas on how to bring your home entertainment together using Windows 7!

The Windows Home Server Team has announced today the beta of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 (PP3). And if you’re running Windows 7, Windows Home Server PP3 comes with several new features designed to take advantage key Windows 7 features:

• Full Image-based Backups of Windows 7 PCs. After the Windows Home Server Connector is installed on your Windows 7 PCs, Action Center should no longer display that your files are not being backed up.
• Windows 7 Libraries Support. Music, Photos and Videos shared folders from your Windows Home Server will be added to Windows 7 Libraries. Content saved to these shared folders will be able to be quickly accessed through your Windows 7 Libraries. And any application, like Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center, will be able to access content saved on your Windows Home Server through Libraries as well.
• Windows Search 4 is now included. With Windows Search 4, PP3 offers improved query search times, indexing times and reliability. Easy search through a Library in Windows 7 with files stored in multiple locations.
• Windows Media Center Enhancements. Archive old recorded TV shows onto your Windows Home Server in a variety of formats. Use Console Quick View to see statistics about your Windows Home Server through Windows Media Center.

More in-depth information on these features – see their blog post on PP3.

The Windows Home Server Team does not yet have a final release date for PP3 however they are shooting to have PP3 available shortly before GA of Windows 7. If you’re running Windows Home Server and have several Windows 7 PCs – I encourage you to give PP3 a try and help the Windows Home Server Team make PP3 rock.

To beta test PP3, please sign up as a beta participant of the Windows Home Server program on Microsoft Connect. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to download PP3.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be a free update to existing Windows Home Server users via Windows Update.

I’ll be installing PP3 on my HP MediaSmart Server EX470 either tonight or sometime over the weekend. I’m stoked about the Windows 7 integration!

Starting tomorrow, Windows Media Center users who are also Netflix members will gain access to more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly within Windows Media Center on their PCs.

Using the two together is easy and convenient. In Windows Media Center, a new Netflix tile will appear under “TV + Movies”. To stream movies and TV shows from Netflix, just click on the new Netflix tile and login with your Netflix account.

You will be able to search the entire Netflix library right from Windows Media Center, and manage both your Instant and DVD Queues. Windows Media Center will also take advantage of Netflix’s “recommended” categories.

 

Here is a short video of Netflix in action in Windows Media Center:

Netflix in Windows Media Center

And here is another really neat video walk-through of Netflix in Windows Media Center:

Getting Netflix in Windows Media Center

You can also use your Windows Media Center remote to navigate the player controls and queues for Netflix in Windows Media Center too!

Netflix in Windows Media Center is powered by Silverlight.

If you also have an Xbox LIVE Gold membership and have been streaming Netflix movies and TV episodes to your Xbox 360, this offering will work for you as well.

Netflix in Windows Media Center currently will work only for Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate users today.

This is very cool stuff. You may remember back in March, we launched the Windows Media Center Sports Channel, which offers a variety of interactive sports content including from CBSSports.com, FOX Sports and MSNBC.com. Now more than ever, Windows Media Center offers a great entertainment experience.

UPDATE 5/20: Netflix in Windows Media Center works for Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate users in the U.S. only and does not support Extenders for Windows Media Center.

The Windows Home Server Team announced today Power Pack 2. The English version of Power Pack 2 will be made available via Windows Update starting March 24th to Windows Home Servers with Power Pack 1 installed. You must have Power Pack 1 installed in order to install Power Pack 2. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions of Power Pack 2 will be made toward the end of April.

Power Pack 2 offers Windows Home Server users the following awesomeness:

• Improvements to Remote Access
• Enhanced Functionality for PCs running Windows Media Center (via Windows Media Center Connector)
• Content Streaming Support for Windows Media Center Extenders

For me, I am particularly interested in the Windows Media Center Connector. With the Windows Media Center Connector installed, Windows Media Center will have access to content stored in shared folders on a Windows Home Server. Just this last weekend, I went through about 1,500 CDs and DVDs I’ve accumulated over the years of sporadic backups of photos and documents. I had CDs going back to 2000. I went through each CD and DVD and pulled off all the important data (mostly photos) and transferred the data onto my Windows Home Server. I now have no data remaining on any physical media anywhere. Everything is now on my Windows Home Server (which I affectionately call JARVIS). And now with Power Pack 2, I’ll be able to browse through those old photos I rediscovered from years ago directly within Windows Media Center downstairs in my living room.

For more information on Power Pack 2, read this post from the Windows Home Server Team.

Psst, here is a little tip for Windows 7 Beta users who have Windows Home Servers. You can add Windows Home Server shared folders to Windows 7 Libraries. Just right-click on a Library and choose “Properties”. There you can pick which folders you want in that Library. Choose “Include a folder…” and type \\ServerName\ShareName\FolderName etc. See below screenshot for a example:

You can see that in my Documents Library, I was able to add my “Brandon LeBlanc” user folder (located at \\JARVIS\Users\Brandon LeBlanc). I have actually created a standalone Library on my Windows 7 Beta PCs called JARVIS consisting of all the important shared folders on my Windows Home Server.

Yesterday we announced a brand new offering for Windows Media Center users: Sports Channel. Sports Channel will be offered to Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate users as a new tile under “Sports” in Windows Media Center.

Sports Channel offers a variety of sports content from great sources CBSSports.com, Fox Sports, MSNBC.com and more. Content flowing through Sports Channel ranges from breaking sports news to interviews of your favorite players to the ability to track your fantasy sports teams.

Sports Channel is a great example of our continued investment in providing new and easier ways for people to find and access compelling content through Windows Media Center.

Instead of going through my own experience with Sports Channel, I’d like to call out Ian Dixon’s overview of Sports Channel here and Stuart’s screenshots of the Sports Channel experience here from The Digital Lifestyle.com (one of the best Windows Media Center sites on the web today).

For the best experience with Sports Channel in Windows Media Center, a broadband connection is highly recommended. Today, Sports Channel is currently available in the U.S. only.

I also recommend checking out MSNBC News in Windows Media Center (which I blogged about last October) – which is no longer in beta.