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The popular Windows Media Center plugin, TunerFreeMCE, has been updated in a release the developer, Martin Millmore, is calling a major upgrade. The new plugin is now Windows 7-only, forgoing Vista support in order to allow for the numerous improvements it includes.

Vista users can continue to use the older version of the plugin, though. The developer says that two-thirds of the plugins users are on Windows 7, so he made the decision to make improvements the majority can enjoy.

So whats new in this release? Things users have been asking for, including:

• A new popup screen for managing the TV programs, allowing you to play the program, set a timer recording to record other showings of the program if you have a TV tuner configured, and if the program supports it you can add it to a playlist or download it (the last two work for BBC WMV programs, but not flash).
• When playing flash content, sometimes the mouse didn’t click in the right place. Now you can mode the cursor round the screen with the remote by pressing the cursor keys, and OK to click. This allows you to play even the most troublesome programs.
• The interface is now touchscreen enabled, so if you have a touchscreen media center you can easily navigate through the screens.
• Plugins are now directly available within the application. When you go to preferences you will see a list of plugins. When you pick one, the system will take care of installing and updating it to keep you up to date with your favorite content.
• MSN has been removed. This is because there is now a native media center app to support MSN.
• Improved memory management – only one instance of TunerFreeMCE will be active at any one time

If youve never tried TunerFreeMCE before, I recommend checking it out. Its a great plugin for watching streaming Internet video on your PC and Media Center extender, including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five for UK users and Hulu support for US users. Believe it or not, the plugin is actually free. However, donations are accepted.

(via Ian Dixon)

Getting the latest film trailers inside Windows 7 Media Center seems like a perfect fit for something so focused on entertainment on the big screen. Unfortunately, its something thats also been mostly left out of the native Media Center product. A relatively new entry, Trailer Library, from MediaPCTycoon on The Green Button forums lets you stream movie trailers from Filmtrailers.com directly into Windows Media Center. Filmtrailers.com is primarily focused on the UK and European market however, so users in the States may want to take a look at other options such as My Trailers 2 or My Movies 3.

To install Trailer Library head over to the Green Button forums post and hit the download link to get the latest version. Install the plugin and open up Windows 7 Media Center. The plugin should appear in the Extras Library and can be launched from there.

For European users you can select your locale from the Settings menu at the top of the screen. Simply select Settings, mark the radio box next to your location and select the Continue button. This should change the source of the trailers being downloaded from Filmtrailers.com and give you a more localized selection (as well as your native language in the details).

Inside the main interface select from three options: Latest Trailers, In Cinemas and Coming Soon to narrow down the results. Then in the main strip displaying movie covers select the title to get trailers for and somewhat counter-intuitively youll need to press down to select from the available trailers for the title. Though it may have been more intuitive to simply have a small listing of the available trailers as opposed to this strip method it does get the job done.

Another small drawback to the current interface is the inability to select the description and scroll down to read any text that may get cut off. It also tends to be somewhat repetitive and unnecessary for movies with only a single trailer available. Though despite these few shortcomings Trailer Library is very effective at getting movie trailers into the Media Center interface. Users will be hard pressed to do much better than this, especially those looking for European listings. Hopefully well continue to see further development of this plugin in the future.

Most Media Center enthusiasts will, at least at some point, endeavor to replace the native Media Center Movie Library with a third-party plugin such as Media Browser. While adding the plugin to the Movies menu strip is easy enough using a program like Media Center Studio lets take a look at changing the default icons that come with these third party plugins. This way instead of using the default Media Browser icon we can change it to Media Centers default movie library icon and retain some a bit of the default look while adding Media Browsers functionality.

To get started well need the original icon. Now we have the original Movie Library icon extracted here for you but if you need any of the other default icons youll need to extract them yourself from the ehres.dll file using Restorator. Just open the C:Windowsehomeehres.dll in Restorator and browse to RCData. Locate the series of files named StartMenu.Quicklink. and extract them using drag and drop or the right-click menu.

Now that weve got the image that we want to use to replace the plugins icon lets open up regedit (start > search regedit). Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMedia CenterExtensibilityEntry Points and look through the keys (represented by folders in the left pane) until you locate the one which contains the appropriate data inside. The title or Add-In values should give you an idea of whether or not youve got the right key. Each plugin will have its own set of keys as long as it has got an entry point somewhere in Media Center.

Now on the right hand side locate the entries labeled ImageURL and InactiveImageURL. These are the two values we need to change in order to change the images used inside Media Center. Be sure that the images you will be using are saved to a permanent location then double click each entry and enter the location of the replacement image. ImageURL will be the colored image for when the item is selected and InactiveImageURL will be the white image for when the item is not selected.

Now for the magic, open up Media Center Studio and the Start Menu tab. Expand the Entry Point tab and locate the icon for the plugin well be using to replace the default, in this case Media Browser. The icon should appear with the one entered in through regedit, the default Movie Library icon. Drag the icon to just before the default Movie Library icon and check the box to disable the built-in icon. Of course, you can also rename the Media Browser icon to Movie Library for a seem-less change-over as well by clicking on the name.

Then just save your settings and re-launch Windows Media Center to see the changes take effect. You should see Media Browser in place of the default Movie Library, with the default icon. It may take some fidgeting in Media Center Studio to get the image to be the first selected when moving to the start strip, however. Be certain to place it just before the default movie library icon and it should work (but doesnt always seem to).

There you have it! Media Browser in the main start menu looking like it was meant to be there all along. You should be able to follow the same general steps to get the same effect for just about any plugin. For those looking to change all the default Windows 7 Media Center icons check out the Themes tab inside Media Center Studio, create a new theme and browse to the Images > Start Menu section.

Heatwave, one of the more popular weather plugins for Windows Media Center and one of the first plugins to be covered here on Hack7MC has been updated to support the final release version of Windows 7. Previously, a small change to the Windows 7 Media Center code had made running the application problematic for those with the final release to manufacturing version. Luckily, version 1.2 brings support for the RTM version and Media Center enthusiasts can once again add this handy, stylized app to their complete setups. For those taking a first look at this plugin lets check out some of the features that Heatwave has to offer.

To get started with Heatwave 1.2 just download the correct version for your operating system, either 32-bit or 64-bit and install the plugin. Youll notice that the installer includes an option to add the plugin to the start menu, an option becoming more common in Windows 7 Media Center plugins, though youll need to take some extra steps to enable it after installation.

Once installed, launch Media Center and browse to the Extra Programs menu to locate and launch the Heatwave plugin. Now at the top of the screen youll find a Settings option where you can enable the start menu strip, add locations, change languages and more. To ensure that the start menu strip appears the next time you launch Windows 7 Media Center youll need to ensure that the start menu options are selected in settings and then save the options. A restart will be required to load the new start menu strip though you should probably establish your locations, language and other options first.

To add your location to the Heatwave listings select the Add Location page from the list of settings on the left and enter your city, state/province and country or your zip code to search for your location. Next select the correct listing from the results below to add it to the list of locations Heatwave gathers weather data for. Be forewarned that this version of Heatwave contains a bug that crashes the plugin when trying to launch the onscreen keyboard however, so its best to avoid that button at this point.

To edit, rearrange or remove locations, including those that come with Heatwave by default, enter the Edit Locations page. Here youll find a listing of all the locations currently saved to Heatwave and scheduled to be updated. Pressing the pencil icon will allow you to edit each location while the arrows will allow you to move the order in which each location appears in both the main menu and the start strip. Of course, pressing the X after each location will remove it from the plugins listings entirely.

Thats it! Just save your settings, restart Windows 7 Media Center if youve edited the start strip options or just installed the plugin, and you should be all set to start viewing your weather in style with the Heatwave plugin.

From the main page youll get a complete five day forecast for each location as well as the ability to switch between day and night by pressing OK on your Media Center remote (or Enter on the keyboard). Forecasts are retrieved from Weather.com, the official website of The Weather Channel, and each forecast has a very nice set of icons that are easily identifiable at a glance.

If youre searching for a weather plugin to fill the gap in your Windows 7 Media Center be sure to give the newest version of Heatwave a try. Its stylish interface and start strip support are sure to go a long way toward filling a gap in easy, accessible weather information for your ten foot interface.

Continuing on the last article covering an assortment of movie and audio plugins you need to try with Windows 7 Media Center, weve got even more plugins you need to give a try. These plugins cover features that should be included in any decent ten-foot media application in this day and age of widespread internet access, Weather and Social Media. Be sure to check back again soon for the third installment where well cover several programs that lend themselves to an even better Media Center experience as well.

Weather

Vista4Cast

Misleading name aside, Vista4Cast is the perfect addition to Windows 7 Media Center. This handy plugin allows you to get a quick view of the weather forecast for the next few days right from the Start Menu as well as dig deeper into future weather patterns using the main plugin. The short forecast display is very configurable including fonts, colors and more. The main plugin supports multiple cities and includes very extensive details gleaned from The Weather Channels forecast. Be sure to give this fantastic plugin a try today!

Heatwave

Heatwave is a wonderful weather plugin thats incredibly stylish to boot. Allowing you to access a number of city locations you can set from inside Media Center through a convenient and easy to use configuration panel. The newest version, which also updates the plugin to work with Windows 7 RTM, even includes a built in on-screen keyboard (though currently not functioning). Now that this plugin has been updated to work with the latest version of Windows 7 Media Center its sure to return to many a Media Center thanks to it beautiful interface styling allowing for a full five day forecast to be viewing at a glance with easy to understand icons.

Social Media

Media Center Mail

Want to read those forwarded joke mails and other assorted spam on your ten-foot interface? No problem! Media Center Mail can bring you all that and more. This plugin supports multiple users and an easy to use configuration plugin to manage your email account settings. Each user can have multiple accounts and accessing email from each account is fairly easy from inside Media Center as well. If youre looking for an email solution for Media Center, look no further.

TwitterMCE

Twitter addicts fear not, you can tweet from your couch while watching movies and TV! TwitterMCE allows you to not only check tweets from friends while away from the PC but you can even make tweets right from Media Center. Use the full on screen keyboard, complete with character countdown, to tweet about whatever it is you just saw on TV or the movie your watching. You can even browse through a complete list of your friends and followers. This is a must have app for movie loving Twitter users.

Media Center Status Application

Looking for a more hands-free method of updating your Facebook and Twitter friends to what your currently listening to or watching inside Windows 7 Media Center? Media Center Status Application has got just what you need. This little plugin lets you establish a series of rules to automatically update your status on either social network whenever you begin playing media inside Windows Media Center. With advanced rules to determine exactly what types of media to update for and exclusion rules for specific files you can even avoid being overly annoying to your social media buddies (or letting them know about that embarrassing Justin Timberlake obsession).

Be sure to stick around for the next part in the series where well cover a few more plugins that take care of some of the missing features in the background of Windows 7 Media Center as well as a hand full of must-have programs that make your Media Center interface even better. Want to know as soon as its posted? Sign for one of our completely free subscription methods and be one of the first to find out!

Many movie enthusiasts prefer to watch content in its original resolution and refresh rate. Unfortunately, Windows 7 Media Center doesnt automatically adjust the refresh rate or resolution of the program to suit content instead resizing and adjusting the content to suit Media Centers settings. This of course distorts the content from its original format. Luckily for purists, Dgaust of the Australian Media Center Community has created a simple plugin to allow users to adjust the resolution and refresh rate of Media Center. Now changing Media Center to suit the content is fairly simple, even if not completely automatic.

To get started download and install the plugin from the Aus. Media Center Community forums. Next youll need to edit the settings.xml file and adjust the resolutions and refresh rates to suit your needs. Locate the settings.xml file in C:Program Files (x86)RRC and open it up in your favorite text editor.

Next, adjust the resolutions and refresh rates by adding a new line to the resolutions section of the file. For each new resolution add the following WidthxHeight@XXhz. To accomplish changing the resolution and refresh rate the plugin requires a restart of the Media Center application. While this is a somewhat cumbersome method it certainly beats not being able to change the settings at all. You can set the delay in ms of the restart function in the settings file under the section.

Once inside Media Center youll find the plugin under the Extra Programs section. You can of course add this to a custom start strip using one of the popular programs available for download such as MC Studio or WMC Custom Configuration Wizard. Also, using the entry point /entrypoint:{3a8e5756-f890-42a4-8d7a-1a4a32242507}{751885da-f449-4c0e-a21c-4fc142240245} you can setup the plugin to launch from a button on your remote using a program such as Intelliremote.

From inside Windows 7 Media Center, select the plugin then choose the proper resolution and refresh rate. The plugin will take care of adjusting the settings and restarting the program with the proper display options. The plugin is still a work in progress but will suit users looking for an easy way to handle refresh rate and resolution switching.

Thats all there is to it! If youve got trouble or suggestions be sure to head over to the Australian Media Center Forums post and let the developer, Dgaust, know. Dont hesitate to let him know if youve found this plugin useful either as the community of developers working to improve on and add the features left out of Windows 7 Media Center play an extremely important in advancing Media Center for everyone.

As any bachelor can tell you the basic sleep timer function built into any recent (or even not so recent) television is the perfect partner for those nights falling asleep on the couch. This basic functionality has long been missing from Windows Media Center however. For those missing this feature, look no further. The Green Button forum member StixBit has created a plugin to fill the gap, providing a Sleep Timer menu that allows for 30 minute, 60 minute and custom sleep timers.

To get started using this handy little plugin, download and install the package either from StixBits LiveDrive or the Hack7MC server. Once installed, launch Windows 7 Media Center, youll find the plugin in the Extra Programs area under the Extras menu.

From inside the plugin interface youll find options to set a sleep timer for 30 and 60 minutes as well as the ability to setup a custom time at five minute intervals by selecting the Custom Timer button and pressing the right arrow until youve got the appropriate amount of time. Once youve got your custom timer set just press the button and the sleep timer will take care of the rest.

There are even options to turn off the Monitor from the sleep menu as well as cancel the timer completely. Unfortunately, however, this plugin doesnt currently work with extenders and accessing the Sleep Timer from the Extras Menu is slightly more cumbersome than your standard TV sleep timer. If the timer could be set through a simple button press of the remote it would be quite a bit more user friendly.

For those looking to add this basic function to their Windows 7 Media Center though the solution is more than adequate to get the job done. Its great to see the Media Center community coming together to add the type of features included in other systems that seem to have been left aside by the Microsoft team. Thanks to StixBit for this handy plugin and be sure to give it a try!