HTPC Software

We've all heard of it before.  Many use it.  Now it looks like today you can't get it for your PC.  Boxee's software is now only available for their Boxee Box and similar devices.  I don't use it but I think that more options are always good.

Boxee announced back in December that its PC client would be shuttered, and the time has finally come: Boxee will remove all copies of its app for PCs by the end of today. AsGigaOM reports, Boxee VP Andrew Kippen confirmed that the company will officially kill the PC client. In his original announcement, Kippen said that the future of TV will be driven by the Boxee Box and other connected devices, rather than PCs — the move makes sense, considering that even Microsoft has shied away from the HTPC crowd by focusing on developing the Xbox 360 ecosystem. 

The Verge

VLC is a popular media player among HTPC enthusiasts due, in no large part, to its support for a wide range of file formats. Many folks were attracted to VLC early on because it was one of the first open source media players to support encrypted DVD playback. Recent updates to VLC and a VideoLAN Organization project called libaacs have made it possible to also play encrypted Blu-rays. Unencrypted Blu-ray ISO and folder playback has been possible in VLC for awhile now through the nightly builds, but if you know where your VLC directory is and where your "appdata" folder can be found, then you are just a couple of quick downloads away from having encrypted Blu-ray playback. If you are the type to wait for official releases, then you will need to hold off a bit longer, and there are still some features missing, some of which will likely never be possible to access with VLC, but it does mean that you have one more option for enjoying your Blu-ray discs on your HTPC.

VLC is one of the most widely used media players. It was one of the first open source media players to get encrypted DVD playback capability, and now, it looks like the time has come for Blu-ray playback capability also.

Anandtech

The release of the first beta of XBMC 11.0 "Eden" turned out to be a great Christmas present. I've been using it regularly since its release, and other than some issues with building a library from a SMB share, the Eden beta has been quite stable. The interface is faster than ever and the new horizontal layout is a welcome change. The XBMC team has been hard at work polishing up that first beta release, and now the second beta for XBMC 11.0 is available. The new beta includes fixes for unencrypted Blu-ray playback, subtitle issues, and TMDB scraping, among other issues. There's still no Live CD release, but it has not been forgotten about. Unfortunately, this means that trying XBMC 11.0 will require an installation, so do keep in mind that this is a beta.

It’s been a productive few weeks in the race to release Eden. Since Beta 1, unencrypted bluray, dvd player, startup problems in OSX, airplay, subtitle issues, unofficial addon repository installations, and the frustrating TMDB scraper problems that have made it difficult for everyone to scrape new movies have all seen fixes.

XBMC Blog

I've been awfully excited about XBMC 11.0 Eden since the XBMC team first announced it was starting to come together, and now the team has announced that the beta version of Eden is available for download. They have made some major changes to the orientation of the default skin, Confluence, and have generally been working on making everything faster, smoother, and better. I'm personally excited to try out the Airplay support and think the improved input handling should make setting up remote control functionality a lot easier. Apple TV users will also be happy to hear that Eden marks the first time that iOS releases are in-sync with the main trunk, so they too can get in on the beta love. The only bad news is that there is not an XBMC Live version of the Eden beta. The XBMC team is in the process of making some massive changes to the underpinnings of the Live version that they are not ready for people to put to use, so testing Eden will require an actual installation.

As always, do keep in mind that this is beta software. Follow the XBMC team's tips for backing up your computer or device, expect to crash and burn from time to time, and have fun! If you decide to take the beta for a spin, be sure to share your thoughts with us.

Milestones include Addon Rollbacks, vast improvements in Confluence (the default skin), massive speed increases via features like Dirty-region rendering and the new JPEG decoder, a simpler, better library, additional protocol handling, better networking support, better handling of unencrypted BluRay content and structures, adjustable display refresh rate in OSX (to match the already available feature in Windows and Linux), AirPlay support, an upgraded weather service, and much more. 

XBMC Blog