The biggest drawback right now is the lack of an EPG, (Other than Ice TV} which Channel Nine is trying to outlaw, access to downloadable content equivalent to what Microsoft and other providers deliver for consumers in the USA and applications that deliver extensive automation capability.
Windows Media Center started life as Windows XP MCE 2004. It had some added functionality over the normal Media Player in that it could show a slide show of pictures, video and be controlled via a TV style remote. Windows XP MCE 2005 and MCE 2005 Rollup 2 added to the features, allowing radio, pictures and stored videos over a network share to the media.
MCE 2005 also introduced the hosted HTML application framework to Media Center. This allowed third party developers to improve and add to the functionality of Media Center.
In the USA and Europe consumers are moving to Media Center due to the ever increasing price of subscription TV like Foxtel. The price of a couple of months of high-end subscription TV will upgrade a standard PC to a decent Media Center.
