sMoRTy71.com: Can XBOX 360 replace an HTPC?

Can XBOX 360 replace an HTPC?
In the past couple of days, I decided to go ahead and get an XBOX 360 at launch. As I posted previously, I am still a bit disappointed in the launch titles; however, I am getting more and more excited about using the 360 as a front end for my HTPC. I really want to get my HTPC out of the manroom and it looks like the 360 will let me do that.

There is a great thread over at AVS Forum where a couple of Microsoft employees give details about what the 360 can and can't do in terms of media playback and decoding. Really great information if you're considering the XBOX 360 as an HTPC replacement.

While there is too much in that thread to recap here, I was surprised to see that Windows XP users *can* use some of the HTPC functions of the 360. You can download Windows Media Connect and use an XP box with your XBOX 360. Of course, some of the functionality is limited compared to using MCE 2005; however, its good to know that I can play around with the media options prior to getting MCE 2005.

Check out the thread for more info.