Archive:Intro FAQ

What is XboxMediaCenter and what does it allow me to do if I run it on Microsoft's Xbox™?

XBMC (XBox Media Center) is a free open source (GPL) multimedia-player for the Xbox™ from Microsoft. Currently XBMC can be used to play/view most popular video/audio/picture formats such as DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF, PNG, and most other popular multimedia formats (plus many more less known formats) directly from a CD/DVD in the Xbox DVD-ROM drive or from the Xbox built-in harddrive, XBMC can also play multimedia-files from a computer over a local-network and even stream media-streams directly from the internet. XBMC can parse DVD-Video movies (with and without menus) from ISO/IMG-images and even ZIP/RAR-archives. XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast feature and many audio visualizations. XBMC can in addition use python-scripts written for XBMC as plugin widgets. All these features enable the Xbox™ running XBMC to fully function as a multimedia-jukebox. XBMC has a simple anbd user-friendly user-interface, it's easy to use, it's convenient, flexible and offers a great price/performance ratio. (This, The XboxMediaCenter Project is also known as "XBox Media Center" or simply "XBMC").

• Notes!
  • XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free.
  • XBMC does require a modded Xbox to run on or it will not function), (see modchip or software exploit/hack)
  • For a complete list a functions and features see the supported features/formats list here.

Is XBMC or The XBMC Project and its members in any way affiliated with Microsoft?

No. XBMC is only a software program that is made by Team-XBMC (ie, the members of the The XBMC Project) as a free third-party product that any person can installed and run on the Xbox™ game-console hardware (which is manufactured and sold by Microsoft Corporation). XBMC, The XBMC Project (and its memebers, Team-XBMC) and the services (including developer tools, resources, download areas, files, source code, product information, documentations and communication forums, collectively called "Services") provided by us has nothing to do with Microsoft by any assosiation or affiliation what so ever. XBMC is not approved by Microsoft to run on the Xbox, in fact installing/running XBMC on your Xbox may very well void your warranty! Microsoft does however have similar products to XBMC for the Xbox called "Media Center Extender for Xbox" (a.k.a. "Xbox Media Center Extender Kit") and "Xbox Music Mixer", which are both very limited feature/function-wise in our own humble opinion.

Does XBMC support or feature this and that function...?

See the supported features/formats list here and/or try it yourself and findout! Also search/browse and read this manual!

Exactly which video/audio/picture formats and audio/video codec versions can XBMC play?

See the full supported features/formats list here, if it is not listed there then XBMC does not support it (yet)!

Where can I suggest/request a new feature or function to be implemented into XBMC?

You can log a NEW feature/function request in our RFE Request Feature Tracking System, (you must register and be logged-in on SourceForge.net before you can do this). Just make sure that you first remember to search for existing "Feature Requests" before logging a new request! You should take note that we guesstimate that 99% of all new requests XBMC users post have already been requested before so it is imperative that you search thoroughly! You may also post a copy of your suggestion in the feature-suggestion section of our community-forums if you want it open for discussion, however, again you must search there too before you can post, (we do not enjoy reorganising duplicate posts). Please respect that your request only counts as a suggestion, there' s no guarantee that it will implemented soon or ever. Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". Note! Only one feature per RFE Request and Forum Thread is allowed (for easier manageability).

When will this and that feature or function be supported by XBMC?

Tomorrow, in a year, never... who knows! XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free, none of us get paid to develop new features/functions/formats/codecs for XBMC meaning we foremost prioritize the things we ourselves what to see and use in XBMC. You as an end-user of who do not yourself contribute source code patches to the XBMC project have no rights to demand new things to be implemented and get no garantees that some specific thing will be prioritized before something else, you may however suggest/request for things and if you ask nicely then maybe someday a developer might like your idea and implement the thing you asked for. We do appriciate your ideas, opinions and feedback if they are presented in a good way, so it is possible to lobby for something specific, just don't be a jerk about it, arrogant and 'pushy' people will most likely just be ignored (or even banned if they step over the line which we consider to be acceptable). Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". If you can not accept the possibility that your thing might never make it into XBMC then you just have to bite the bullit and learn how to program C/C++ to be able to code it yourself, (see the "Appendix D: Development Notes" section of this manual).

Where can I request/suggest a new codec-decoder or file-format to be implemented into XBMC?

The answer (and explaination) to this question is so long that we had to put it in separate page, see; Codec and Format requests.

When will this and that codec-decoder or file-format be added and supported by XBMC?

The answer (and explaination) to this question is so long that we had to put it in separate page, see; Codec and Format requests.