Upgrade finished, almost...

The HTPC upgrade to Vista is almost complete.  I say almost because there is a problem.  First the good:

• The actual Vista upgrade went well, no lockups, no failures, connects to the Internet, drives my Samsung DLP
• Media Center looks great
• The 360 hooked up as an extender first time, no problems and works like a charm
• The guide for OTA broadcast and DVR functions are working
• Aero interface looks niiiiice (in my best Borat voice)!

The problems (if there weren't problems it wouldn't be Microsoft, would it?):

• Vista Media Center now does region checking.  Apparently my DVD player is so old it doesn't have it, so I can't play DVD's in Media Center
• Live HDTV stutters when watched directly on from the HTPC, but it is smooth as silk over the 360 extender!

The stuttering while watching HDTV (live or recorded) stinks.  I've researched it and it is very common.  Apparently there is no DVXA accomplished in Vista for now, the drivers are all being rewritten by MS (their codec) and the individual video card vendors.  The problem is widespread and a hot topic on a lot of forums.

So in the short term I am moving my HTPC out of the family room and using it over my home network with the 360 extender.  It works very well, and won't be a problem.  I'll make a final placement decision when the driver issue is fixed.

If you are considering this upgrade, be forewarned, the live HDTV is a problem and you may want to wait.  A lot of people have switched back to XP until this is resolved.

Oh in the meantime here are a couple of vid's I found (maybe you've seen them):

Halo 3 Stuff

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Cheers!