Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

About the Program Guide

One of the most powerful software components of your Media Center is the

electronic program guide (EPG), which serves as your conduit to live television

programming. If you have ever subscribed to a service such as TiVo or ReplayTV, or

a digital cable offering, you may already have some experience with an interactive

EPG. If not, you’re in for a treat—especially because Microsoft is treating you to a

free EPG. Although standalone digital video recorders such as those previously

mentioned charge a subscription fee to use their EPG offering, Microsoft is giving

away the service to users of its Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system.

The guide lets you check what’s currently play-

ing on TV and provides more details on each

show, but that’s just the beginning. You can

also browse for TV shows, searching by title,

keyword, or category. By selecting shows you

have found using the guide, you can also record

them with the touch of a button (for more

information on recording shows, see Chapter 8,

“Recording Shows You Find”). You can even

choose to record an entire series of programs, so

you’ll never have to miss another important plot

twist in your favorite soap opera, or the final

installment of that blockbuster miniseries.

The basic EPG grid displays channel and network

information in the first column, alongside title

and scheduled broadcast times of shows you

receive. When you highlight a show, by high-

lighting it with the remote control or by placing

the cursor over the title using the mouse, a short

description of the show appears at the bottom of

the screen. (For instructions on viewing more

detailed show descriptions, see Chapter 6,

“Watching the Show.”)

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

tip

Here’s an interesting way

to change your point of

view. While looking at the

program guide, instead of

scrolling forward to view

upcoming programs by

pressing the Right (→)

button on the remote, try pressing

the Left (←) button and selecting

the program-guide square that

contains the channel number and

call letters. Rather than getting

the usual grid showing the time

across the top and channels listed

down the left side, you’ll be able

to see in detail what’s playing on

that particular channel for the

next several hours (see Figure 7.1).