Will the Remote Wonder be compatible with MS Freestyle

M

monkeyboy

New member
I looked at the review for Microsofts new Media Player, Freestyle, today. The specs for the thing seem to be quite strict in the sense that it won't even install unless you have a TV Capture Card and a *specific* (MS's words, not mine...) type of IR remote control.

Are ATI working with MS on compatibility with this system? Freestyle looks ideal for a easy Home Theater PC setup. Is anyone beta testing WinXP SP1 with the Freestyle component built-in?
 
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Well... seeing as how the remote wonder is a radeo remote and not an IR remote, sounds like there might be a prollem there. I hope ATI is talking to MS about it though.
 
The only comment I can give is that we are investigating it. The current ATI Remote Wonder contains more keys than a Freestyle remote so we should be able to interoperate from a purely mechanical perspective, but the SW side of things is a Microsoft spec so it is currenlty not publicly defined. It seems likely that they will just extend the WM_APPCOMMAND set in which case it shouldn't be too difficult.

Remember that Freestyle is not a Retail thing so you will have to go to your friendly OEM and buy a Freestyle box, and thet will come with a remote (at least that's the way I understand it...).

Stephen
 
Thanks Stephen. Interesting stuff. I've read conflicting reports about Freestyle, namely that it will ship (along with Mira) in Windows XP SP1. I've also heard that it 'won't even install' without a supported TV Card and IR remote, which leads me to beleive it's a seperate application.

My bet is that it'll come along with SP1, but will require a Microsoft Remote to 'activiate' it similarly to the X-box and it's DVD functionality. If that's the case, it'll be a real shame because it looks to be a nice front end interface for a Home Theatre Computer.
 
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