Turns out that it was all a misunderstanding. Vista Media Center still sucks!
Chris Lanier posts that Softsled could be coming to a PC near you.
For the unitiated, Softsled isn't an actual product, it's the a code name for a supposedly cancelled Microsoft project to allow PCs to become software-based Media Center extenders. Basically, this means that a standard Windows box would have all the media extender features of the Xbox 360.
It's baffling that Microsoft hasn't delivered this obvious feature yet, but it hasn't.
Today, however, it seems that Bill Gates is announcing a that Softsled will finally be integrated into Windows. I've got my fingers crossed that it comes sometime soon! Vista Media Center will suck substantially less with Softsled!
© Jed Lewison