2012-07-27, 15:08
I am a long time XBMC user since the days of it actually being on the Xbox. My current setup is a dedicated HTPC running recent nightlies of XBMCbuntu. I use the Neon skin, and have my library stored in MySQL. My media is stored on a remote server with two RAID5 arrays totalling 12 TB of useable space.
From a straight local media standpoint, I love XBMC. It is the foundation that my wife and I use to watch all of our movies and almost all TV shows. I love to show it off when we have guests over and people are always amazed by its slick interface and ease of use.
For the past few years, about every couple of months or so, I get a bug in me to try to get more out of XBMC, and I venture into the Add-Ons section and try some of the internet video feeds, or some other applications. Most recently I setup the ROM Collection Browser.
I am able to get all of these Add-Ons working fine. That is not my problem.
My problem is that I believe XBMC's biggest strength is it's gorgeous and easy to use interface. When I have guests over, they are not amazed that I have access to all of this media on my television. They are amazed at how well its all integrated. It DOESNT look like Im using a computer to playback all of this stuff.
However, when I use the Add-Ons, I have to find a submenu in the main menu and then when I get into each add-on (for example the Fox News plug-in) the UI is primitive and ugly. This happens to every video Add-In I've tried. Yeah, I can change the list view to something else, but there is never an option to get the UI looking as slick and easy to use as browsing my local media.
I actually still have my 1st generation modded XBOX with an ancient version of XBMC on it. That Xbox has many different Xbox games loaded on the internal drive and I have many emulators for NES, SNES, MAME, etc on it. In that XBMC, there is a Programs section, I go there, and it shows the emulators with a nice little icon. I click on the icon, and each program launches as you would expect it to. No drama.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but in all of my research into XBMC, its current state leaves a lot to be desired with these third party plug-ins. Why don't they integrate more tightly with the skin? Why do I have to navigate submenus from the main menu to get to the feed I want? When I do get into the feed, why is it that it looks like Im looking at a basic list of text that I have to choose from?
Are there plans to make these add-ons just as user friendly and cosmetically beautiful as XBMC can be with local media? Maybe Im using the wrong skin, or maybe there is some critical part of the setup that I am missing, but for me, I don't like any of the third party stuff. It makes me feel like Im stepping out of the great user experience that I've come used to with XBMC. A lot of people on here seem to like them...why? Help me understand what I'm missing!
From a straight local media standpoint, I love XBMC. It is the foundation that my wife and I use to watch all of our movies and almost all TV shows. I love to show it off when we have guests over and people are always amazed by its slick interface and ease of use.
For the past few years, about every couple of months or so, I get a bug in me to try to get more out of XBMC, and I venture into the Add-Ons section and try some of the internet video feeds, or some other applications. Most recently I setup the ROM Collection Browser.
I am able to get all of these Add-Ons working fine. That is not my problem.
My problem is that I believe XBMC's biggest strength is it's gorgeous and easy to use interface. When I have guests over, they are not amazed that I have access to all of this media on my television. They are amazed at how well its all integrated. It DOESNT look like Im using a computer to playback all of this stuff.
However, when I use the Add-Ons, I have to find a submenu in the main menu and then when I get into each add-on (for example the Fox News plug-in) the UI is primitive and ugly. This happens to every video Add-In I've tried. Yeah, I can change the list view to something else, but there is never an option to get the UI looking as slick and easy to use as browsing my local media.
I actually still have my 1st generation modded XBOX with an ancient version of XBMC on it. That Xbox has many different Xbox games loaded on the internal drive and I have many emulators for NES, SNES, MAME, etc on it. In that XBMC, there is a Programs section, I go there, and it shows the emulators with a nice little icon. I click on the icon, and each program launches as you would expect it to. No drama.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but in all of my research into XBMC, its current state leaves a lot to be desired with these third party plug-ins. Why don't they integrate more tightly with the skin? Why do I have to navigate submenus from the main menu to get to the feed I want? When I do get into the feed, why is it that it looks like Im looking at a basic list of text that I have to choose from?
Are there plans to make these add-ons just as user friendly and cosmetically beautiful as XBMC can be with local media? Maybe Im using the wrong skin, or maybe there is some critical part of the setup that I am missing, but for me, I don't like any of the third party stuff. It makes me feel like Im stepping out of the great user experience that I've come used to with XBMC. A lot of people on here seem to like them...why? Help me understand what I'm missing!