kd6icz wrote:My experience is Windows 8.1 WMC is MUCH better than 7. It handles cable errors better. The setup is smoother too. Especially if DCA is involved.
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I dual boot my HTPC with Windows 7 and 8.1 (I did have 10 on it but, too many issues)... As I mean dual boot, there is no option on startup, you need to go into settings, system and change the default OS to boot to the other OS.
Over all, Windows 8.1 does boot a little faster than 7 and the desktop scales (I run my 65" tv in 2160p, and it scales the desktop so it's easier to use from a distance). If your using AHCI boot, it will boot a LOT faster than 7.. (7's support for AHCI is questionable). The thing to remember, WMC was DESIGNED FOR Windows 7, and it was patched in to work on 8.1, So if your looking for the MOST stable experiance 7 is the best option.
And with 8.1 you get access to the Windows Store but, the downfall is, I cant find any apps that can be controlled with a remote. There was a way where you could create a shortcut for a 8.1 app on the desktop (tricky but, it can be done) and then you could use ReLaunch to add to WMC. So unless apps could be controlled via remote, there is not really a perk here for WMC.
Using 7 or 8.1 I found no issues activating cablecards or watching DRM shows. The Only differences between Windows 7 WMC and WIndows 8.1 are.. the options for Start WMC with WIndows and ALWAYS on TOP are removed from 8.1.... both of those could be set via the registry with very little effort tho.
The Only problem across the board is Microsoft has killed off WMC as we all know and updates that come down have limited testing, so they could break WMC and it coudl take weeks to fix as long as enough people cry about it. Personally, as it's dedicated HTPC (ONLY for media, NOT anything else), I get updates to a point where it's stable, and I DISABLE updates completely. I do not suggest this if you do other things on your computer.
This disabling updates makes a stable WMC machine... as 95% of the time when WMC is broken for some reason it is a update.