Windows 7 is the new hotness and rumors have been flying thick since the big unveiling at PDC last week. Spouting the most recent rumor is EngadgetHD, and a juicy rumor it is at that.
One of the frustrations that Windows Media Center users have faced since the product’s inception has been limited file format and codec support. Enthusiasts have learned how to install third-party codecs and tweak the registry to help preferred file formats show up in the WMC interface, but every WMC user has at least one codec that they wish Microsot would add native support for.
EngadgetHD is reporting that they have a tipster who claims that recent pre-beta builds of Windows 7 have native DviX and Xvid support as well as support for MKV files. This part of the rumor seems reasonably plausible. Microsoft has already announced some expanded codec support with H.264 and Microsoft has been building a relationship with the DviX folks through the Xbox 360. The second part of the rumor is where things get more exciting, but a little harder to take at face value. According to EngadgetHD’s tipster, Windows 7 will also include built-in transcoding allowing WMC to serve any video it knows how to play to any extender without requiring that extender to have built-in support for the underlying codec. This is something else that enthusiasts have already been using third-party applications to accomplish, but it would likely be much easier for everyone to accomplish if the functionality were built-in. Here’s hoping that EngadgetHD’s tipster is not only on the money, but that all of this rumored functionality makes it through the beta phase.
