The standout feature here was the "DVR-MS" file format. Unlike proprietary TiVo files, MCE wrapped recorded TV in a format that was relatively accessible. It was a wrapper around MPEG-2 video. This meant that with a bit of tinkering (and sometimes a lot of tinkering), you could archive your recorded TV shows, edit out commercials, or burn them to DVD. For the tech-savvy, this was the holy grail of media freedom.
Unlike its predecessors, which were limited to major PC manufacturers, MCE 2005 was the first version available to smaller system builders. It was built on the Windows XP Service Pack 2 codebase. Minimum Requirement 1.6 GHz or higher Memory 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) Graphics DirectX 9.0 hardware-accelerated GPU Storage Significant space for TV recordings windows media center 2005
Because MCE 2005 relied on MPEG-2 for TV and DVD playback, users often found themselves in "codec hell." Installing a random media player or codec pack could break the DVD playback functionality, requiring a reinstall of the decoder packs (NVIDIA’s PureVideo or CyberLink’s PowerDVD were the gold standards). The standout feature here was the "DVR-MS" file format