[stetilley]

Hi guys,

I've been intending to build a media centre for a while and decided to take the plunge. XBMC seems like the best solution for software, but I had a few queries;
I know that I can boot straight into xbmc, which is great because the reduced startup time is a major reason for this. however, I was wondering, if I do this, is there a browser and support for any torrent programmes within xbmc itself? i'm not talking about downloading films, i'm talking about downloading tv that is on channels i pay for but i missed due to being at work or whatever. It's not such a big issue if that isn't a possibility, I can always just boot into windows and leave stuff downloading, then when i actually need to watch it i can boot into xbmc
also, if i boot into just xbmc, will any peripherals be supported, such as a blu-ray drive?
any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Death-Axe]

I would seriously advise you to install it a software on an OS. Start times are really nothing these days. And if you are using an SSD, then it becomes even more of a moot point.

I am running win 7 on mine, and I don't notice the boot up times at all. Plus with an os it is easy to configure your devices like remotes, disc management and whatnot.

It all comes down to what you want out of it all really, and from what you want: go with windows or linux.

[natethomas]

Browsers are not available within XBMC. For missed TV shows, you could check the bluecop unofficial addon repository, or look into OpenELEC, which allows you to install additional programs for downloading various things.

Or I guess you could use a full copy of Windows or Linux, but you'd lose the startup time and the appliance-like feel.