I've Given Up

[JonDeutsch]

OK, I'm confused by the extender discussion. It sounds like there's an issue with MSFT and Ceton. But doesn't the Echo support Win 8 just fine? Presuming so, what's at issue? Any info appreciated! Thx.

[richard1980]

No (well, I believe the Echo works partially, but I may be wrong...it may not work at all). See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2796618

[foxwood]

OK, I'm confused by the extender discussion. It sounds like there's an issue with MSFT and Ceton. But doesn't the Echo support Win 8 just fine? Presuming so, what's at issue? Any info appreciated! Thx.

You can't (currently) use an Echo as an Extender for a Windows 8 Media Center. The "Tech Specs" listed on the Ceton website are slightly misleading (Win 7 is listed under "Minimum System Requirements" leading to the obvious assumption that Win 8 is better than the minimum) but the FAQ is slightly more forthcoming:

When will the Echo support Windows 8?
The Echo is compatible with Windows 7 today. Microsoft changed some things in Windows 8 that affect all extenders except the Xbox 360 when used with Windows 8. We're working with Microsoft on a solution and hope to have it available in the future.

[slowbiscuit]

Windows 8 broke existing extenders. Y'all can spin it however you want, but given that WMC did not change at all (and lost features, by all accounts) it's hard to understand why they didn't keep supporting the older RDP for something that didn't change.

Unless they wanted to lock out anything but the Xbox, which increasingly appears to be the case based on what Ceton has posted (and tweeted) so far.

[barnabas1969]

Windows 8 broke existing extenders. Y'all can spin it however you want, but given that WMC did not change at all (and lost features, by all accounts) it's hard to understand why they didn't keep supporting the older RDP for something that didn't change.

Unless they wanted to lock out anything but the Xbox, which increasingly appears to be the case based on what Ceton has posted (and tweeted) so far.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. There is no technical reason why they couldn't have allowed an older RDP client to connect.

[foxwood]

It's not a question of allowing an older RDP client to connect (they can). The whole stack is completely different. This is about Windows 8, not about Media Center.

Really, how many Xbox sales do you think MS is going to lose to a $179 Echo? It'll be measured in the thousands. Do you seriously think MS restructured RDP in hundreds of millions of Win8 desktops to protect 10,000 Xbox sales?

Be honest with yourselves - V2 extender support just isn't important enough to MS to bother with. If you want to use a V2 extender, use Win7.

I have 2 DMA extenders, and no XBoxes!

[foxwood]

given that WMC did not change at all (and lost features, by all accounts) it's hard to understand why they didn't keep supporting the older RDP for something that didn't change.

Media Center doesn't have any RDP support - never did. Extenders rely on the RDP support in the OS. The Win8 team made their decisions on what would make the OS better in the markets that make them billions of dollars each year.

Media Center users weren't on that list