Get these Open Source Media Centers
Apps, Online Media, OpenSource, Today's freeware, Gaming, Linux & OpenSource, Freeware June 8th, 2008
A while back I posted an entry about Simple Center, a media freeware that lets you share and sync your files between your devices, one of them being Xbox 360.
Now, I’ve got two great open source media centers: one lets you hook up your machines to your 360, just like Windows Media Center itself and the other just acts as a full media center.
Don’t know what a Media Center is? See Media Center Wikipedia.
XBMC aka XBMC Media Center – for Xbox 360
Attention! XBMC requires a modded Xbox or else won’t work.
XBMC can be installed on a flash drive and run from Windows, Linux and Mac.
It is available in 20 language and plays almost any video and audio format available today, while MS Media center has a limitation.
For a complete feature list, go to XMBC-Features.
From the page:
Currently XBMC can be used to play/view most common video/audio/picture formats such as MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF plus many more less known formats directly from a CD/DVD in Xbox DVD-ROM drive or of Xbox hard-drive, XBMC can also stream files from a PC over a local network and even stream media streams directly from the Internet.
Because I haven’t got a modded 360 and I don’t intend to mod mine any time soon,I can’t vouch for it so I am hoping that XBMC runs without problems and any major bugs.
There is a forum that you can turn to in case you get stuck or have problems.
The installation procedure and any other information have been documented on XBMC Online Manual.
If you’ve got any experience with this software, or any thoughts whatsoever, please share with it with us.
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac.
MediaPortal II aka MediaPortal Infinity
Media Portal will transform your computer into an advanced media center.
From the page:
MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and store your videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more
According to the FAQ’s, Media Portal II doesn’t support Xbox 360 or Playstation consoles, but I am sure they will soon make this happen.
I’ve installed Media Portal last year and I was quite happy with it.
It is very rich in features; some of those features cannot be found in any other media center I know.
For more documentation and download, go to the Media Portal web site.
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
The only CD pack i have been blogging about so far was the 
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