yep

Before they do anything, they should fix the multitude of bugs in their latest update http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/291890.aspx and add the features they've been promising for years http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/05/no-directv-hd-for-vista-media-center-until-2010/.

I have used Media Center for the last few years, but I'm switching to BeyondTV or Sage becase M$ is intent on only supporting new customers and screwing over their old customers. Their latest update is OEM only, and doesn't include support for H.264 or DirectTV. I used BeyondTV a few years ago and liked it, and will probably switch back after they support the HD-PVR, which I highly reccomend (I can't tell the difference in quality between straight HD signal and recorded TV on the highest setting.)

No, it doesn't have a HDMI connector, just a component input. It's called the analog hole, otherwise known as the a. hole.

Can't wait for the carpal tunnel from multi-touching all day at work. Not to mention fat fingering Excel. Makes sense on the iPhone, not on a desktop.

I don't understand why it's so far fetched that the Saudis would try to bury this technology until they started loosing oil revenues. If the Saudis hadn't done it, one of the big oil companies would have. I don't blame them- I blame Cui for selling out. Will this technology see the light of day? Probably, but not for another 10-20 years.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/11/hauppauge-intros-usb-pvr-with-component-input/

Do you mean end of 2008? If you mean end of 2009, what's the delay? I thought it was supposed to be out this May.

I have CommieCast and it seems that there isn't much that is 5C encrypted over firewire. However, there isn't much in the way of software that supports HDTV over firewire. There are some workarounds, but nothing very elegant. The best I've seen is Tim Moore's FireSTB for Windows Media Center. However, development ceased in 2006, and it doesn't seem to work well with Vista. If there are any developers out there that would want to help redevelop this app, head over to http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/249764.aspx.