7. MCE As Photo Album And Slide Projector

Presentation of digital photos in MCE resembles the Thumbnail view in Windows XP, but is optimized to work with the remote control. Added extras include a zoom function and some rudimentary image editing capabilities, including image rotation and cropping and a tool that allows you to remove the red-eye effect when taking indoor pictures with a flash.

MCE also includes various image editing tools for retouching digital photos.

What's new in MCE 2005 is that digital photos from cameras, flash cards or memory cards can be copied straight to the hard disk, without first having to use the traditional Windows Explorer function.

Thumbnail photo views in MCE offer various sort options.

The slideshow capability in MCE is much slicker than the one built into ordinary Windows XP: it includes a slew of attractive dissolves and zoom effects, and permits a sound track from CD or the hard drive to accompany image display.