05.07.2008 — Inteset LLC, manufacturer of media servers based on Windows Media Center, is now shipping all of its servers with "Secure Lockdown," the company's solution for keeping its products in Media Center mode at all times .

In this configuration, users never see the desktop. As far as they're concerned the Inteset products aren't even Windows PCs. "The Secure Lockdown module creates all the properties of a stable/fixed embedded environment," says Inteset's Jeff Lloyd. "It’s pretty much saying that there is a Vista Media Center Embedded product out there."

Secure Lockdown is not new to Inteset, but previously the company shipped its products with the feature disabled. All Inteset servers will now come with Lockdown set as the default.

David Hirsh, Inteset's director of business development, says the change was made because "the Microsoft ehome team has done a fantastic job incorporating audio, video, and other wizard driven system configuration options within the Media Center UI."

In other words, there is less reason for integrators and consumers to fiddle with the PC via the desktop environment. Inteset even accommodates Web surfing through the Media Center user interface (UI).

Hirsch adds, "Inteset supplies advanced setup control in its own System Configuration Media Center UI for installations that require it. In essence, the installer or user never has to leave Media Center."

As I've written in the past, Media Center has an Identity Crisis. That's because every PC that ships with Windows Vista Ultimate or Premium includes the Media Center Application.

So the majority of PCs can be called Media Centers, even if they're not tailored for the task. So, in my view, they're not really "Media Centers."

Inteset was one of the first Media Center vendors to "clean up" a Media Center's settings to make it act like a dedicated media server.