Microsoft yesterday began accepting applications from individuals interested in beta testing the next upgrade to the Windows Media Center functionality within Windows Vista, code-name Fiji.
Those familiar with Windows Media Center that comes from the original package of Vista know the inconsistency of it across the operating system. Some portions of the interface slightly differ from the overall Vista look and feel and in some cases the menus appear as transparent overlays on top of playing video.
Via a posting to the Green Button, Jessica Zahn, a program manager on the Media Center team, notified forum participants that the beta-selection process is now officially open. She posted:
“We only have so many spots, and we need a diverse group of testers from across the US and from supported countries. You’ll only be contacted if you’re chosen, and we will choose people by May 31.”
Interested testers must complete an online survey, submit it to Microsoft and then wait when the pool will be picked.
“The survey is deliberately broad,” wrote Zahn. “It would probably be a mistake to assume everything we’re asking about is going to end up in the next version, whenever that is.” The survey included questions about users’ habits in listening to digital music, manipulating photos, and watching live television on the PC screen.
Although Zahn did not clue in testers to a release date for the Media Center update, or whether it will precede or succeed Vista Service Pact 1, Microsoft has a fairly consistent record on releasing new versions of the Media Center interface in-between released versions of the OS in the past, so a major update being released, say, last quarter this year, would be in keeping with past traditions.
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