8. Digital Restraints: DRM In MCE2005

On Internet forums that cover Microsoft and its products, opinions are rife that MCE is contaminated by DRM, or that it will spy on its users. As a technology supplier, it's true that Microsoft has come down squarely on the side of DRM. It's also true that MCE is designed to handle copyrighted or protected data with care and diligence. But you can still copy or burn your own CDs without restrictions, so long as you use content that's not explicitly tied to the PC it's installed on.

MCE makes it easy to turn off DRM protection for audio CDs you make yourself.

The same thing is true when recording TV programs. Those materials that don't incorporate DRM markers can be viewed on other PCs. The so-called "spy functions" - which usually refers to downloads for CD cover art and other metadata using Windows Media Player - that some fear Microsoft will share with vendors or copyright holders can also be turned off without difficulty.

Additional DRM elements are in planning or design phases for the next version of MCE, to be based on Windows XP's successor (codenamed "Longhorn"). These will probably include features like support for Pay TV Smartcards or copy protection for DVI access. But without these kinds of DRM capabilities, certain content simply won't be accessible anymore - at least, not legally - according to those who own the rights to that material, such as TV broadcast or cable networks and music industry interests.

Conclusion

Microsoft has a pretty good chance to make a place for itself in the living rooms of those users who can accept a PC as a reasonable facsimile of a home entertainment center. A strong argument in MCE's favor is its easy setup and configuration. That's because the operating system comes pre-installed, and the installation wizard makes life just that much easier. Equally convincing are MCE's TV handling and friendly EPG.

On the other hand, it's disappointing that MCSE doesn't support editing of recorded TV programs or burning them as Video-DVDs - for those jobs, additional third-party software is required. The FM radio functions could also stand improvement, especially to remedy MCE's inability to record radio programs.