Windows Media Center vs. XBMC vs. Steam Big Pic - help

[noiseredux]

So I have an older Windows PC that I've got hooked up to my TV. I've been using this to stream Steam games to, and I also will launch Netflix (web) and Youtube, as well as watch DVD's on it. What I'd really like to do is have a single front end that I can control everything from.

So what I'm trying to figure out... if I make it autoboot into either Windows Media Center or XBMC, can I easily launch Netflix, Steam and possibly Youtube from either of those?

If I make it launch straight into Steam, is there any way to add Netflix or DVD playback or (I doubt it) Youtube to my library?

What's my best bet for easy, comfortable media center-ing?

[TSTR]

You can add anything to Steam with a little AutoHotKey work. Just depends on what you want. I would go the XBMC as main frontend, then Steam as frontend for games only, keeping other stuff out.

Edit: I think Advamced Launcher is what you want for XBMC, though I have never fuxd with it myself.

I think WMC is too slow for my tastes.

[noiseredux]

I would go the XBMC as main frontend, then Steam as frontend for games only, keeping other stuff out.

is it easy to switch between the two though? I mean, I want this to just be kind of seamless y'dig?

[TSTR]

Should be. Launch Steam BigPic from XBMC, then exit Steam and it should go right back to XBMC.

[noiseredux]

Should be. Launch Steam BigPic from XBMC, then exit Steam and it should go roight back to XBMC.

yeah this is the sort of thing I'm thinking.

Now, would Windows Media Center do the same though? I've heard it has Netflix support already, and I'm guessing it's a little lessy brainy to work than XBMC?

Though on the flip, I'm sure XBMC has better support of streaming networks.

[TSTR]

AFAIK, XBMC will launch your streaming video servicea via browser, although there may be plugins for some things. I'm not the best reference for XBMC, though.

Alternately, you can just let me come live with you, and I'll be your live-in remote control.

[noiseredux]

this shit's in front of fold-out couch. Pack yr bags, my dood.

[Cronozilla]

What you're going to want to do to get the interface you're looking for is use WMC as the hub software.

You pretty much have to if you want to utilize non-browser based streaming from Netflix or Amazon.

It's an issue because Microsoft keeps WMC rather closed. So, with some tweaks you can get everything running fairly well.

The good news is, WMC supports plugins. Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Cyberlink Power DVD (required for BluRay, not required for DVD playback), and others all have well working WMC plugins that allow you to launch them from WMC very easily. (Another home server you can use is Media Browser)

The good news is, you can get everything else working, the bad news is, you need to do some tweaking.

I need to do this junk to my setup already so, as I might as well do it myself then explain how you can do it.

I'm going to focus on getting YouTube to load up with a TV interface and Steam to open up in Big Picture mode, and to return back to WMC when done, hopefully without ever seeing the desktop.

Here we go, I'll update the post as I complete it.

Update: I have everything working, but it's not entirely smooth.
This is for Windows 7 systems, specifically. Windows 8 is another boat entirely.

Both require a tool: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16973/cu ... er-studio/

It's detailed there with some tutorial information on how to use it.

YouTube

YouTube is going to need to run in a browser. Chrome seems to work the best.
The first thing you have to do is have chrome installed, and hopefully you're not using it for your current browser, because we need to change the default behavior.

It needs to be set to only open one page at startup. For a YouTube TV experience, that URL is
www.youtube.com/tv

You can link it to your account using the access code, like you do on consoles.

To add it to WMC, make a new application entry point.
The Target is Chrome and the argument is --kiosk

This will open up chrome in fullscreen mode, load up the default page, which is set to YouTube TV.

You can use the keyboard command ctrl + w or alt + f4 to close it. This will likely have to be mapped to your remote somewhere, or the functionality may already be there.

Steam

This one is a little easier.

Follow the same steps above for adding it to WMC, use the steam executable path and this argument:
-start steam://open/bigpicture

When finished you need to exit steam, not return to desktop.

This same process works for pretty much any external program. You can add individual games, or emulator suits, or pretty much anything.

The Caveat here is that the process that WMC would be invoking cannot already be running and to return to WMC that process needs to be terminated. Meaning, if Steam is still doing some clean up junk while it's closing .... you're going to be staring at the desktop while it does that, because WMC won't know it's done since there's no actual communication it's just staring at the process ID.

[noiseredux]

Crono I'll keep an eye on yr progress. For now I'm messing w/ XBMC, though no commitment. I've got YT installed, and got DVD's working (yay 90210). But a lot of the other stuff feels nerdy.

Am I right that WMC is not pre-installed on Win8? I can't find it. I assume it's a free download though?

In either case - if I go w/ XBMC or WMC, how do I get that front end to auto launch when I turn the PC on (Win8)?

I think Steam integration will be the make it or break it for me.

[Nyukki]

Might be an idea to keep an eye out for Android TV. If that supports streaming Steam, then everything else is a piece of cake.