XBMC as operating system?

Hi,

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

I have a laptop I am about to format which will be used only for streaming media over my network.

Is it possible to install XBMC as the operating system? I understand there is a Live CD--is there some way I could format and just copy the Live CD onto the internal HDD so it boots off that?

Would that be the best way to get top speeds out of XBMC? It would be hell faster than running Windows+Winamp etc. for playing music? And the search function for music in XBMC is ok right?

Would I have any network problems? It's all wired LAN.

Thank you.

There is an option to install the XBMC live cd onto a HD. The great thing about it is you can run the live cd before installing it to see how it would run and you can make the choice whether it fits your purpose.

XBMC never was, nor will it ever be, an operating system. The closest comparison you could make is to your "shell", but even that isn't nearly accurate.

Althekiller,
correct answer, but no help for the thread owner. I dont think Gesus asked his question to get philosphic answers about OSes, shells and the like.

Gesus, it as simple as that:

The XBMC Live CD version contains a minimum Ubuntu operating system and the XBMC Linux application running on that Ubuntu.. After booting from the Live CD You can decide if You want to install the whole stuff to a USB stick or a disk drive. After that is done Your system can use that stick or drive as a boot device.

And, yes, If you only want to use the laptop as a network media player an installation from the XBMC Live Cd version is perfect, as long as the hardware is supported. This can be tested by using the live CD without installing to disk.

Kind regards
Selti

Answered perfectly: thank you.

you can also use grub to install it along with keeping windows on the laptop... would also be sweet if they wrapped the xbmc strippedf ubuntu into wubi....