What OS?? What is media center?

Im looking to get a new laptop but unsure what OS to go for.

XP pro seams like the best choice at the moment, but are there different versions of XP pro? SP2 etc etc??

have also been looking to find out what the difference is between XP pro and Win Media center.

Media centre just looks to be a version of windows with some fancy media user interface on it. would guess it have some more drivers available to it as well.

What would be the advantages of Win Media Center edition over XP pro if any?

would Xp pro be able to do everything media center can with some downloading? and vice versa?

any comments or views would be greatfully recieved. or any links to information so i can read my self

thank you for your help

Media Center is quite useful if you want to watch and record tv and radio. It doesn't offer that much. But XP Media Center edition is XP Pro with tv and radio functions.

But to get the TV or Radio functions your laptop must have a built in TV Tuner, or you must buy an external one. My laptop came with Media Center Edition and I don't see why, as there is no TV tuner.

Media Center edition is a lite version of xp pro. You could see it as a cheap version of pro, or an advanced version of home edition.

thomas234 said:

But to get the TV or Radio functions your laptop must have a built in TV Tuner, or you must buy an external one. My laptop came with Media Center Edition and I don't see why, as there is no TV tuner.

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so i would guess that XP Media Center edition is XP Pro with tv and radio functions is prob the one to go for.

thank you all for you help

Media Center Edition has a slightly nicer design.
The only difference I can see is the Media Centre thing which to me is only of any use if you use the MS remote and plug it into your telly!
It has a couple of extra programs for burning mp3s and avis etc to cds and dvds.
The system requirements for MCE are a lot higher but its probably just the Media Center program requirements and not the OS itself.

If MCE doesnt cost any more money you might as well get it over xp.