Under the TV + Movies menu in Windows Media Center, you may have noticed a new tile: MSNBC News Beta. The MSNBC News Beta tile will begin appearing in Windows Media Center for users in the United States and Canada running Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. Users dont need to download anything to enable MSNBC News Beta in Windows Media Center. MSNBC News Beta gives users quick access to the latest election news, top stories and weather all from one screen.

Directly within Windows Media Center, users can browse Editor Picks and Most Popular videos (which are selected by viewers). I discovered that when I click on a specific video, a + icon appears. When this + icon is clicked, it gets added to a custom news video playlist. There are quite a few videos to choose from which is nice.

I was able to quickly browser through a bunch of MSNBCs Decision 08 videos and add them to a custom news video playlist to watch all at once.

I was also able to browse other categories such as Business, Sports, and Entertainment which all have videos I can either watch as I go or add to a custom news video playlist. MSNBC News Beta also sports some pretty neat search functionality that lets me search for stories with specific keywords.

And the 5-day weather forecast (available for any ZIP code in the United States) is impressive too!

As a heavy Windows Media Center user myself, I for one will be using MSNBC News Beta to stay on top of not only the upcoming U.S. Election but all the latest news.

For more on MSNBC News Beta and Windows Media Center click here!

Check out the CE Installer Blog, where Mike Seamons continues his presentation of Optimizing Media Center for Entertainment. In this installment,Mike discusses the steps he takes to optimize Windows Media Center. He discusses removing all unnecessary software, installing Windows Updates and other configuration. Additionally, he discusses how to integrate Zune with WMC.

Topics covered include:

• Removing all Unnecessary Files
• Network and Sharing Tips
• Cleaning the Desktop
• Setting the Resolution, sounds, and screen saver
• Setting Up Windows Media Player
• Syncing everything with Zune
• Default Content Removal

Extremetech has an article on how to turn your Xbox 360 into a media extender. As I have mentioned before, the Xbox 360 is the only version 2 media extender to work with Vista’s Media Center.

From the article:

Once you’ve configured the Xbox 360 and your PC, you can share almost any media on your computer right through the usually-superior speakers, video equipment, and other gear that comprises your entertainment system. It’s a great way to show photos to friends, watch digital video that you’ve uploaded from a camcorder, or listen to your favorite tunes. The 360 even ports over playlists from your PC, and you can create your own on the fly.

The article is a good step-by-step of how to setup the Xbox 360. Pretty basic stuff but worth reading nonetheless.

After selecting the Internet TV option in Media Center, you will find six main categories to choose from: Top Picks, Movies, Music, Entertainment, Sports, and News. The Top Picks section contains some of the best items from the other five categories, like the Batman Dark Knight trailer and the John Mayer concert. Under the Music category, there are concerts from Maroon 5, Snoop Dogg, Chris Cornell, Velvet Revolver, Oasis, Evanescence, *cat Dolls, The Bravery, and more, as well as music videos. Under Entertainment, you can watch full TV show episodes, like those from critical fav “Arrested Development.” In addition, there are shows available from networks like A&E, bio, The History Channel, NBC Today, Food Network, HGTV, DIY, National Geographic, and Fine Living.

The MSN TV channel offered clips from 90 some hit shows like “Heroes,” “My Name is Earl,” “Survivor,” “Chuck,” “Bionic Woman,” and so many more. Under Movies, you’ll find trailers sorted by genre or status (box office, coming soon, on DVD). In Sports, there are clips from the latest games and dedicated areas for NFL news and NCAA Football. The News section offers current news clips and a section focused on the 2008 election. The Internet TV content is high-quality and optimized for broadband streaming. To access the content on your TV, you’ll need to have a Media Center Extender, like the Xbox 360 or one of the newly announced Extenders from D-Link, Linksys, HP, or Niveus.