The MC360 skin for the best media centre on the planet, Xbox Media Center (XMBC) came out of beta on Friday and after running it over the weekend all I can say is it is amazing. I have to take my hat off to Blackbolt (who funnily enough randomly left a comment 30 mins ago!) and the team for their outstanding work. XBMC is way better than XP Media Center, although I haven’t been able to compare it to Vista’s Media Center as there still aren’t any drivers available for my TV card.

I’ve created a slideshow below of my favourite features.

I was expecting just bug fixes from the last beta release to be added, but a whole new set of features have been added. My favourites are the new icons, the way the selected object kind of ‘pops out’ to highlight, and the speed seems faster to me.

The video below will also give you a feel of XBMC/MC360’s capabilities:

(A higher res version is available here)

Some of the key features of MC360 for XBMC include:

• True Xbox 360 Dashboard reproduction. Using complex animations to enhance experience.
• Fullscreen 4:3, Widescreen 16×9 480i, 480, 720p, 1080i HD Resolutions Supported (XBMC already upscales DVDs to these resolutions)
• Use your real Xbox Live Gamercard , or use a custom setup, with your own picture and settings.
• Game Saves Manager Found in the Games Blade. Download saves and delete old saves.
• XBMC Live Place - Download Trainers, Themes, Scripts & Watch Internet Movies. Available in the XBMC Live Blade.
• New System (Settings) Blade Layout, File Manager can now be found in the System - Memory Window.
• New File Manager, uses single list method, press LEFT or RIGHT to switch from Source to Destination.
• Gamercard Auto update. If you set an Xbox.com tag, it updates its information upon skin startup.

XMBC is simply the best media center you can get for £100. That’s how much it will cost these days to pick up a 2nd hand Xbox and a mod chip. Modding an Xbox is easy, I’ve done two Xboxs for myself (bedroom and living room) and I’ve also done two for mates.

Are you an XBMC user? What do you think of the new MC360 skin?

More: MC360, XBMC

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