New MC instance

[conman0321]

I've been running WMC since Vista on a HP m8000 HTPC now on W7 64bit. Great WAF, fed the extenders well, streamed the NAS content like a charm.

Then, the nor'easter last week - 3-4 direct lightning strikes on a surge suppressor that should have been upgraded long ago.

350W power supply works impeccably. Motherboard - it has dark scars. 4 TB of music, photos, videos etc. on a Synology 411j NAS in the basement (can't recommend it highly enough).

I'd like to salvage the Ceton tuners, content on HDD,remotes (harmony WMC) and whatever else is still usable.

1 existential question, and 1 practical:

1. Given MSFT's drift away from WMC, should I start over open source or Apple TV? I'd like this to last 7+yrs.
2. If I keep WMC, what's the best case / MB / video card combo to keep the rest of the ecosystem working?

[Tracer]

I would suggest staying with WMC if you are dealing with any protected content. Even with Microsoft's lack of WMC support it is probably going to be around as long as there is support for Windows 8 and if they offer it for Windows 10 it will be around even longer. Given that I don't see them making any changes to WMC.