Microsoft: only 6% of Windows users ever tried Media Center
updated 05:50 pm EDT, Fri September 2, 2011
Sinofsky promises Media Center for Windows 8
In a post on the Windows 8 blog, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky admitted that users of the Media Center functionality runs at only 6% of users. Sinofsky made the remarks in response to feedback from customers who had emailed him regarding the future of Media Center in Windows 8, given its absence from pre-release builds of its next OS. While he wanted to assure users that Microsoft remained committed to the platform and that it would eventually make it into pre-release builds eventually, he revealed telemetry showing that regular use of Media Center is actually quite low.
Sinofsky wrote:
“Our opt-in usage telemetry shows that in July, Windows Media Center was launched by 6% of Windows 7 users globally with the heaviest usage in Russia, Mexico, and Brazil (frequency and time). However, most people are just looking around; only one quarter (25% of 6%) of these people used it for more than 10 minutes per session (individual averages), and in 59% of Media Center sessions (by these 6% of users) we see almost no activity (less than a minute or two of usage)."
Media Center first became available as a special edition version of Windows XP around ten years ago. Subsequently, it was built in to Windows Vista and Windows 7. However, its absence from pre-release builds on Windows 8 had concerned fans of the application. Sinofsky said that for engineering and business decisions, Media Center functions will become available for testing in later pre-release builds.
