Mark Betz

That would be great, but I'll have to see it in action before I believe it. How do they support this? Through OCAP? So, instead of creating its own guide by scanning the available clearQAM channels, WMC will either get the guide in realtime from the CableCard, or download and run an OCAP guide application from the provider? Any additional details you can provide on this would be great.

I use WMC on Windows 7 with an HD Homerun, which I find to be a great solution, and I understand SiliconDust is coming out with a Cablecard version as well. These are great developments, but Media Center has a ways to go in terms of making digital cable really accessible to end users. The biggest problem is channel numbering and guide organization. The average user who hooks everything up and enters the guide for the first time is going to be lost, and if they actually try to configure the channels to match what they already expect to see from their cable system, it's going to be an exercise in frustration. WMC needs to hide the whole channel frequency mess, and instead drive everything off a configurable guide number mapped to a callsign. That's how cable guides are organized. On my system WABC HD is 231, not channel 23.1. WNBC HD is 232, not channel 23.3. Furthemore the frequency assignments can change, but the guide numbers change much more rarely. It would really be a huge step forward if WMC can come up with a way to keep guide number, callsign, and channel frequency in synch without constant user intervention.