11.28.2006 — The Electronic House Expo was like a coming-out party for Windows Vista, the new operating system from Microsoft. At EHX, several vendors provided their first-ever previews of software built for Vista.

In particular, we saw several applications built for Media Center Edition (MCE), which will be included on most consumer versions of Vista.

While we’ve seen plenty of fine automation applications built for the Windows XP version of Media Center Edition, developers have had very few tools to work with. They could do little more than add a “My Home” or similar tab to the main MCE menu, and then create Web pages that mimicked the look and feel of the MCE graphical user interface (GUI). These add-on applications were not tightly integrated into the Media Center experience.

With Vista, developers have two new programming envrionments—Media Center Markup Language (MCML) and Windows Presentation Foundation (code-named Avalon)—that allow them to create programs that appear to be native to Media Center.

The result: richer and more creative applications. Media Center Markup Language exposes the same code used to create the new pages and START menu in Vista Media Center and, therefore, allows application developers to create software that has the same “look and feel” as Vista Media Center.

For example, developers can take advantage of the transparency capabilities of Vista—imagine having a home-control menu overlaid on a live TV show, no interruptions required.

Vista at EHX

While no company demonstrated that particular feature at EHX, we saw a demo from Exceptional Innovation that showcased Lifeware automation software mimicking the Vista GUI.

As with Vista itself, Lifeware 2.0 is optimized for viewing on a 16:9 TV, using Vista’s at-a-glance Gallery view. During the Media Center Boot Camp on Tuesday, Mike Seamons of EI said, “The icons mimic the look and feel of Vista’s. It presents the consumer with a seamless experience, navigating through their lights, thermostats and other electronics, and enjoying movies, music and other native Media Center applications.”

Seamons says we can expect lots of Vista-optimized features when the company’s Lifeware 2.0 for Vista is released. I’ll just have to guess that it will include support for transparent overlays. I’ll also assume Lifeware will support Sideshow devices that would enable little bits of Lifeware data to appear on such devices as remote controls and cellphones. Such a thing was demonstrated at WinHEC, but EI has not made a formal announcement.

Elsewhere on the show floor, Microsoft sponsored the Vista Lounge and Media Center Pavilion. There, Cortexa showed the Vista-ready version of its automation software for Media Center. Like others in the Vista Lounge, Cortexa is writing applications using Media Center Presentation Layer “in order to take full advantage of the exciting new graphics and special effects in Vista,” says principal Billy Martin.

Cortexa prefers to run its software on a standalone Linux box, allowing users to access the application from the MCE of their choice. At EHX, the company also showed its software running on an Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC).

Embedded Automation had a preview edition of its Vista-based mControl v2 automation system. Embedded president J.B. Golee lauded the Vista development tools for allowing developers to do “really nice animation,” among other things.

“You can go in and out of focus and use a single page to see and control devices without having to press ‘enter’ all the time,” he says.

Autonomic Controls was rolling out applications that allow AMX, Crestron and HAI to operate Media Center Edition via a robust two-way interface. Integrators can create scenes mixed and matched across the operating systems. A tripped sensor, for example, could turn on the lights via AMX and play a song from the Media Center playlist.

Autonomic also had a presence in the Klegg booth, where Klegg showed a TV with built-in Vista Media Center, controllable two-way via IP or RS-232 serial controls.

Other Vista-related solutions demo’d at EHX included the ArcWay gateway from Archronix, which bridges Web Services for Devices and ZigBee, potentially allowing any ZigBee-enabled device (light, thermostat, sensor, etc.) to simply show up on a Vista PC. WSD is a hallmark of Vista, and an age-old protocol for connecting business software across corporate networks and the Internet.

In one of the more confusing developments, Honeywell showed its Media Center plug-in for Vista—that is, the company’s age-old Vista security system. Honeywell just made this low-cost security system compatible with the company’s Web-enabling Internet Control Module.

The ICM allows the security panel to share a common MCE interface with Honeywell thermostats and Lutron lighting controls. Previously, the ICM was only compatible with Honeywell’s higher-end Apex panels. Indeed, at EHX, Honeywell showed its new MCE interface running on Vista. Windows Vista. Oy!

Vista supports touchscreens! Not so in the original version of MCE, which required a mouse or handheld remote to access certain menus. MCE touchscreen maker Pelham Sloane demonstrated the feature at its booth.

Vista & CableCard

So we know that we’ll finally get CableCard support in Vista PCs, meaning no more hookups to an external cable box via a confusing array of IR contraptions.

What some of us didn’t know is that you can’t stream CableCard content across the network to another computer. If you want to stream the cable content to another location, you can only do it via Media Center Extenders—right now that means the Xbox 360 and, in the future, other MCX-type devices.

Even so, Niveus Media made the best of the situation, streaming CableCard content from its high-end Media Center to four TVs via Xbox 360.

Specifically, Niveus was streaming conditional access HD CableCard programming to four 1080i zones via extender technology (Xbox 360), and also pushing an additional HD 1080i program up to the primary plasma display, for five zones in all. Through the Xbox 360s, each user would have independent control of their own content. The server was an n9 from the company’s Pro Series based on the new Intel Quad Core processor.

Niveus has given details on its Get Ready program for Vista. Dealers can purchase a Niveus Media Center pre-installed with both Windows Vista and Windows XP. Niveus’s exclusive software enables dealers to use the XP version for general purposes, while demonstrating and getting familiar with Vista.

Hats off to Superna

Possibly the most compelling Vista demo at EHX came from Superna Systems, maker of a number of hardware and software solutions for plain old PCs, MCE PCs and non-PCs.

In its implementation of ControlWare software for Vista, Superna took full advantage of the real estate on the main menu, providing easy access to five (that’s the maximum allowed by Vista) “Favorites,” in this case HOME, ZONES, SECURITY, LIGHTS and CLIMATE.

In its application-building tools, Microsoft allows developers to have up to two “strips” on the main menu, and five items per strip. In this way, developers like Superna can give customers their five most important tabs on the home page. I like the thought of “Julie’s Playlist” being just a couple of clicks away.

The rest of my family, however, would think otherwise.

More with Vista

Sure enough, plenty of EHX vendors showed special applications for Vista, but that’s not to say you must do anything special to get added value out of the OS. Vista improves the old XP and Media Center Edition across the board, in terms of reliability and functionality.

On the A/V front, for example, Vista provides high-end audio capabilities like loudness EQ and room correction. During the Media Center Boot Camp, Brian Sandifer of Integra explained, “Many dealers are surprised to hear that audio from a Media Center PC can rival that of high-end receivers.”

Integra’s NVS-7.7 is one of the few Media Center PCs to emerge from a custom-centric A/V manufacturer.

Presenting the sales portion of the Media Center Boot Camp, Doug Robert, channel marketing manager for HP, said, “There is no doubt that Vista Premium [the version with Media Center] will be on the majority of PCs sold when Vista launches. So by default, customers will be exposed to Media Center in the home. That is something that hasn’t existed before.”