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Knocks · (This post was last modified: 2014-03-29, 22:43 by Knocks.)

Which operating system is the current favorite of the XBMC development team? Which one has the most active development and support? And beyond current development, which OS is projected to become the main platform for XBMC development?

I am about to build the first XBMC device since my original Xbox and would like to know if I should build a Windows or Linux HTPC or just get an Android stick. I am willing to put up with a little pain, if one of these platforms becomes the dominant one in the coming months.

nickr · 2014-03-29, 23:38

As far as I know xbmc devs are committed to all current OSes that it is currently available on.

Personally openelec is a great lightweight OS with great support and moves fast in terms of being up to date.

Knocks · 2014-03-30, 01:26

But are all the builds for currently supported OS's equally stable and all have the same features? If not, which one is the most mature version, and which ones will be getting the most attention going forward?

Just trying to future-proof my investment.

nickr · 2014-03-30, 01:30

Android is still immature, in Frodo anyway.

All versions have the same features, Linux is probably the most stable OS and openelec is probably the best of them, IMHO. But it is painless to try them all.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2014-03-30, 03:32

OpenELEC. It's not the most used on the team, necessarily, but it's probably the safest bet to take. It's a situation where both OS and XBMC is fully under control for the sake of XBMC. You don't have to worry about Ubuntu updates breaking your graphics card or creating an incompatible lib. Same with Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS.

Any Linux-based OS, such as OpenELEC, is going to have most, all, or more features, since it is the oldest and most mature of the XBMC ports. That being said, every so often a feature does pop up that is better on one platform than another, and it isn't always Linux. Sometimes.

An x86-based hardware build is going to be able to run most OSes anyways, so you can always switch later on.

In short, get x86 hardware with the goal of running OpenELEC.

aceman118 · 2014-03-31, 16:32

Only problem with linux is streaming video. Netflix and Amazon Prime are a little more difficult to get working on linux. They aren't exactly a walk in the park on windows but at least there you can minimize and open a browser if you really need to.

OpenELEC is probably the best option as far as straight up XBMC only OS. Though, if you plan on doing anything outside of XBMC I would use whatever OS you are most comfortable with.

bluray · 2014-03-31, 16:57

If you ask me this "Preferred Operating System for XBMC", my answer is "WINDOWS". I never try anything else either.....

tential · 2014-03-31, 17:56

I thought it would be Windows too. However, like nickr said the team is committed to developing XBMC for every OS.

Any x86 based implementation of XBMC will work very well. The only reason the RaspPi and Android version wouldn't be "preferred" to me would be that the speed of the hardware may not be able to handle every use of XBMC that you may want to do. Also, some plugins only work with certain OS. So I can see how people would pick Linux based OS because you get a ton more PVR options.

For the basic feature set of XBMC though, I think any OS really works very well.

**natethomas** · 2014-04-01, 08:03

(2014-03-31, 17:56)tential Wrote: The only reason the RaspPi and Android version wouldn't be "preferred" to me would be that the speed of the hardware may not be able to handle every use of XBMC that you may want to do.

This really isn't accurate anymore. Basically any device made after the first Nexus 7 should have the horsepower to run XBMC without difficulty. There are still ultra-cheap boxes made that don't have the guts or use some weird chipset that is poorly supported, but things like the Ouya, Gamestick, and NVIDIA Shield, as well as the Nexus devices and modern samsung/htc/etc phones and tablet all easily have the oomph to run XBMC well. A year is a LOOOONG time in the world of Android, and things have pretty dramatically changed.

tential · (This post was last modified: 2014-04-01, 18:02 by tential.)

(2014-04-01, 08:03)natethomas Wrote:
(2014-03-31, 17:56)tential Wrote: The only reason the RaspPi and Android version wouldn't be "preferred" to me would be that the speed of the hardware may not be able to handle every use of XBMC that you may want to do.

This really isn't accurate anymore. Basically any device made after the first Nexus 7 should have the horsepower to run XBMC without difficulty. There are still ultra-cheap boxes made that don't have the guts or use some weird chipset that is poorly supported, but things like the Ouya, Gamestick, and NVIDIA Shield, as well as the Nexus devices and modern samsung/htc/etc phones and tablet all easily have the oomph to run XBMC well. A year is a LOOOONG time in the world of Android, and things have pretty dramatically changed.

I didn't say there weren't android devices that couldn't handle XBMC. I use XBMC on Android a lot. I'm saying Android devices as a WHOLE. I know about most Android hardware that's released and the first Nexus 7 can't run XBMC at full speed. I know because I have it and use it regularly. It's decent but obviously not as fast as x86 hardware. I haven't tested Gotham yet on a Snapdragon 800 (Waiting for my Dad to give me ONE of his Snapdragon 800 devices. He's got like 3 phones and doesn't even use them all), but I did see confluence on his Note 3 for a bit and it seems faster. But that was Frodo and not Gotham.

I understand things have changed, but you can't compare a First Gen Nexus 7 to x86 hardware just yet when it comes to Android. My phone/Nexus 7 it's hard to pick which one is faster. But my bottom of the line Celeron CPU 450 clocked at 2.2 Ghz is a single core/single threaded CPU. I highly doubt many users even use single core/single thread CPUs anymore in the first world. It's still smoother than my phone/tablet so while Android has made great leaps, and Gotham has made video playback responsiveness on my phone/tablet faster, it's still not up to x86 just yet.

Edit: To be clear, I have high hopes on most current Android chips. I haven't had enough time with the Snapdragon 800 with recent Gotham. I also want to get the MK908II and the S802 and see how those run XBMC.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=188968
Just came out. So Android is making HUGE strides just recently in hardware available to use with XBMC. I've got a lot of interest in Android with newer hardware coming out for XBMC. I think 2014 is the year where you could use XBMC standard on Android at $100 and be happy. I need to see how the new Android devices handle large libraries though.

bilbonvidia · 2014-04-01, 18:07

OpenElec absolutely rocks for xbmc only, so simple and easy to used and as said before does not break.

I am however contemplating using windows again for reasons mentioned above, ie a legitimate way to stream films online using the likes of Netflix. Amazon and 4OD etc however Windows is a ballache to manage (compared to OpenELEC).

Its swings and roundabouts.

bluray · 2014-04-01, 18:25

(2014-04-01, 18:07)bilbonvidia Wrote: I am however contemplating using windows again for reasons mentioned above, ie a legitimate way to stream films online using the likes of Netflix. Amazon and 4OD etc however Windows is a ballache to manage (compared to OpenELEC).

For internet streaming and Live TV, nothing beat Windows. Check this out- post #751

tential · 2014-04-01, 21:13

Too bad Netflix is being throttled by many ISPs.

First ISPs said that I couldn't torrent without being throttled. So I went legit and got Netflix.
Now they say I can't Netflix without being throttled.

Apparently when you purchased 50 Mbps down it means "As long as you only use 10% of your connection."

nickr · 2014-04-01, 21:16

Plenty of people say Netflix works fine on linux, using pipelight.

awp0 · (This post was last modified: 2014-04-01, 22:21 by awp0.)

(2014-04-01, 21:13)tential Wrote: Too bad Netflix is being throttled by many ISPs.

First ISPs said that I couldn't torrent without being throttled. So I went legit and got Netflix.
Now they say I can't Netflix without being throttled.

Apparently when you purchased 50 Mbps down it means "As long as you only use 10% of your connection."

I've been trialing a VPN service for exactly these reasons. The connection is managed on my router, so all traffic to/from my home network is encrypted. It seems to work pretty well and for about $3/month I might sign up for a year. I don't trust Comcast at all, and I don't want to worry about torrent and Netflix throttling anymore.