Windows Vista Media Center SDK refresh now available for download

A refreshed version of the Windows Vista Media Center SDK has been released for download on the Microsoft Download Center today.  You can download it at the same location as the original release of the SDK - https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A43EA0B7-B85F-4612-AA08-3BF128C5873E&displaylang=en.

This refresh will automatically upgrade any previous version of the Windows Vista Media Center SDK that you have on your system.  This refresh is mostly aimed at enhancing some of the documentation and sample code.  It does not include new versions of the tools like the MCML Preview Tool (McmlPad), but it does now include the MCML Preview Tool Launcher power toy that was previously only available as a separate download.

The SDK refresh installs to the same c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Media Center\v5.0 folder by default, but the setup UI and the entry in Add/Remove Programs both specify that the product is named Microsoft Windows Media Center SDK 5.1 (instead of v5.0).  We decided to not change the folder path because a lot of the documentation refers to the v5.0 folder name.

The following is a summary of the key changes in the Windows Vista Media Center SDK refresh (this list is also available in the Getting Started document that launches at the end of installation):

  • Added several previously standalone MSDN technical articles and blog posts to the help documentation CHM file
  • The MCML Preview Tool Launcher power toy is now included as part of the SDK installation process.  If you previously had the standalone MCML Preview Tool Launcher power toy installed on your system, the new version of the SDK will automatically upgrade it
  • Modified the Q and Z setup projects to use WiX v3.0 instead of WiX v2.0
  • Added an additional shortcut for the MCML Preview Tool (McmlPad) to the Windows Vista Start Menu.  The new shortcut launches McmlPad inside of Windows Media Center by using the ehshell.exe /entrypoint command line switch.  The other shortcut launches McmlPad as a standalone application like it did before
  • Added registry files (*.reg) to the \Tools folder to make it easier to enable and disable application debugging and the application error details button.  The registry value to enable the error details button is set by SDK setup, but the registry file can be useful when attempting to debug application failures on systems that do not have the SDK installed
  • Added C# source code (.cs) files for the samples in McmlSampler that use code-behind
  • Made a few minor fixes and tweaks to the Z sample application