In Windows 7, Windows Media Center is a more useful tool than ever before for working with audio and visual media. While at first glance, Windows 7's version of WMC doesn't look a whole lot different than its predecessor, it includes many improvements. In this article, we'll focus on improvements in WMC's TV setup process, support for digital broadcast TV, the program guide, Internet TV, WMC access from the desktop, RAW file support for photos, picture and music playback and sports.

Digital Broadcast TV Made Easier

In Windows Vista, ATSC digital over-the-air broadcast TV was handled clumsily. The already-long TV setup process took even longer if you had an ATSC antenna, and after you had set up your digital channels, they were assigned four-digit channel numbers that were located far from their analog counterparts in the program guide. Windows 7 makes the process of setting up and using digital broadcast TV much easier. When you run the Live TV Setup option from the TV menu strip, Windows 7 determines the digital TV channels that are in your area and assigns them .x channel numbers, such as 14.1, 7.2, and so on in the program guide. If you can view all of the digital TV channels Windows 7 assigns, you don't need to do anything else.

However, it's more likely, especially if you use an indoor antenna, that some channels might not provide a strong enough signal to be usable. In Windows 7, you have two ways to optimize your ATSC digital TV experience: Scan for More Channels and Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength. These options are found in Tasks>Settings>TV>TV Signal. Use Scan for More Channels to determine if you can pick up any additional digital TV channels. Next, use Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength to scan the assigned digital TV channels. During this process, adjust your antenna to improve signal strength, and uncheck any channels that are not strong enough to be usable. The channels you deselect are removed from the program guide.

Keep in mind that if you get a better antenna, you can run these wizards again to see if more channels are available to you.

Internet TV Turns 2

You can access Internet TV in three ways in Windows 7:

• From your desktop via a gadget
• From the Windows Media Center Program Guide
• From the Windows Media Center Internet TV options in the Extras menu stripe

Whether you have a TV tuner or not, MSN "channels" are displayed in the Program Guide. Windows 7 now includes a new version of Internet TV, version 2 (beta).

The first time you select Internet TV Beta 2, you are prompted to update your desktop player. Click Update to download and install the 2MB update file. While WMC still includes Internet TV Beta 1.1 (a slightly updated version of the first-generation Internet TV found in Windows Vista's Windows Media Center), Internet TV Beta 2 is the better version to use - if you have a fast enough connection. It offers an interface that puts more emphasis on content than on categories and looks much more like WMC's other media menus, while offering higher resolution video than the original Internet TV.

However, keep in mind that Internet TV is still in beta, and works best with a fast Internet connection: I'd recommend Wireless-N or Gigabit Ethernet. When I tested this feature on my office PCs (connected to a 10/100 Ethernet network), there were a lot of timeouts, and some video clips played, but with scrambled video on my widescreen display.

Opening Media Center Content from Your Desktop

When you start WMC, you will be prompted to install a desktop gadget to access Internet TV on your desktop. Click Yes, and you can launch TV recordings and Internet TV from your desktop by adding the Windows Media Center gadget. When you add the gadget to your desktop, it displays your most recent TV recordings and Internet TV channels. You can specify how many to offer and what categories to display.

Click a category (1), click an item (2), and WMC opens and immediately starts playing the selected content

You can also access WMC content from the Start menu. WMC supports Windows 7's new jump list feature, so when you click Windows Media Center in the Start menu, you can choose from the latest TV recordings or from other recently-view media.