There is nothing too technical about Windows Media Center and it plays most media formats out there. It used to be the most mainstream media center thanks to Microsoft’s advertisement and bundling efforts. Windows Media Center is one of the few media centers that will allow you to integrate a Blu-ray player into the interface. However, it is still great media center software for beginners (and for advanced users) who wish to, for example, get live TV working easily. Windows Media Center is no longer included in Windows 10, so you’ll be able to use it only in Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 Plex has a built-in live TV and DVR server, so you can also record and watch live TV with it.Ĭlick here for a complete guide to Plex Media Server. For example, you can start watching a TV program with your HTPC in the living room and then continue watching it on your iPad elsewhere. This way, TV shows will play smoothly on your mobile phone or your iPad over a wireless network.Īnother great feature of the Plex is that you can continue the video file from where you left off on any device. Plex Media Server has the ability to transcode your TV recordings, depending on your device and network. Plex’s strengths are in finding all your movie and music metadata without any problem.

There are also mobile front-end apps available. In addition to its own front-end software, Plex Media Player, the back-end server application is compatible with many other front-ends like Kodi.

Plex Media Server is a back-end application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X-based computers that is great for streaming media files across your home network. To get started, read how to customize it with all the bells and whistles. There are several add-ons available, which allow you to truly customize your media experience. However, you can customize the interface with skins that you can download online. The user interface looks elegant even without any customization.

It is a powerful entertainment center for Windows, Linux, Android and Mac OS X that is capable of playing most available media file types. Kodi was originally designed as a media center interface for the Xbox game console. I’ve tested all available media center front-ends and I think Kodi (was XBMC) is clearly the best, but it is not the easiest to set up to make it user-friendly.

This top 10 list will simplify your task by highlighting the most popular HTPC software. The benefit of using a media center software is that you will get an appliance look and feel that is user-friendly.

Plex media player for windows 7