HP is exiting the Media Center business and pulling out of the Digital Entertainment Center line. This was a $2000 Windows computer in a different box sold as a media center. They had many problems: heat, noise, size, maintenance, set up. All those things that appliances shouldn't have:

Media Center PCs designed to be used as Media Center PCs were difficult to set up and painful to support, with all the junkware pre-loaded and special settings that had to be checked for little things like avoiding system hibernation and turning off the beeps that sound at very inopportune times.

And HP was the first and biggest investor in media center PCs. Have there ever been any successful Microsoft partners?

Tags: Microsoft, HP, Living Room