XBMC 'Atlantis' Beta 1 Released, Now Cross-Platform

An anonymous reader writes with a welcome followup to last year's promise of XBMC being made available for Linux: "The first cross-platform Beta version[s] of XBMC Media Center for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox have now been released in preparation for an upcoming stable release, code named 'Atlantis.'" Now, though, there are binaries available for download through the XBMC Media Center site, though only for the non-Xbox versions.

Comments

xbmc rocks

[pak9rabid]

XBMC is the only reason I own an XBox. It's simply an amazing piece of software. I definitely look forward to trying it out on my Linux box...What would be really amazing would be XBMC for the 360 so that we could get true HD support.

Re:xbmc rocks

[neo8750]

If you run mythtv you can use XBMc to communcate with it to watch live channels and recorded shows. add the source myth://Comp-name/

I run this on my linux box that i use for my htpc. I like it because it can handle anything i throw at it even HD content (something the orginal xbox couldnt handle) Also i think it looks 1000000x beter then mythtv gui

Re:XBMC ?

[PhiberOptix]

the source code is available to all platforms, including xbox.
Just the binaries that are not available to xbox, because the MS xbox sdk does not allows them to redistribute binaries.

The Killer App

[ahoehn]

XBMC really was the killer app for a modded 1st gen XBOX. I dropped a 120GB hard drive in mine, had it auto-sync with my video torrent folder, and had a brilliant little movie/tv show playing setup going on. It makes an Xbox do what Microsoft should have done with its Media Center Extender initiative.

For something that was quasi-legal (if I remember you needed proprietary things from the Xbox developer's SDK to properly compile the source for the Xbox) it had a remarkably excellent UI. Things seemed to work quite well. It seems like a good thing to have some real competition in the media center market, particularly cross-platform open-source competition.

Re:XBMC ?

[Anonymous Coward]

To compile XBMC for the Xbox is illegal since it'll have to be compiled using the XDK (XBox Development Kit) which is not available to the average joe (as one may suspect).

That's the reason they don't distribute a compiled version. But if you google for XBMC and T3CH ... you might get something in return.

Oh... the wonders of googling...

XBMC is spelled "XBMC", (not "XMBC")

[Cyberace1]

Someone got dyslexia ;P as it is "XBMC", not "XMBC". XBMC (formerly "XBox Media Center") is now a recursive acronym for "XBMC Media Center" more information on the official website http://xbmc.org/about/

OSX Users

[0100010001010011]

OS X Users might want to check out: http://plexapp.com/

This group forked from XBMC a while ago. It was originally called OSXBMC but to differentiate from the 'official' OSX XBMC release they renamed to Plex.

I've played around with it for a while and it is absolutely gorgeous. Each release gets it more and more integrated with OSX. Apple remote, mouse, local file system, etc.

They've also teamed up with CenterStage to work towards a more OSX like GUI.

Currently my XBOX, bought for $75 used, is going strong. Served via the XBMC protocol running on a debian server with 2 TB of data. pytvshows and rtorrent are nearly as good as a DVR (considering I work second shift) and ... There just aren't more words to describe how awesome the XBMC project is and how far it has come in the last 3 years I've used it.

I'll have to check out the other release tonight to see how it compares.

Re:OSX Users

[Cyberace1]

Plex is only developed by one guy who left Team-XBMC and the XBMC project to start Plex, all other developers stayed with the original XBMC project. With the exception of the sparkle auto updater (which Plex implemented only last week) XBMC has all the features and functions of Plex, and all skins that work in Plex where all designed for XBMC (not Plex) and thus just as good if not better in XBMC, (Plex have not made any changes to the skinning engine, however Team-XBMC have updated the skinning engine in XBMC since Plex forked its code from XBMC). Plex is only a software fork of XBMC for Mac (look up Ãoesoftware forkà on wikipedia for its meaning), XBMC is the original, they are two separate project worked by two separate development teams, some code copying between the project does take place though,(Boxee is another fork of XBMC that is also available for the Mac). Short story is that Elan Fieldgold, who then as a member of Team-XBMC was the one who originally started porting XBMC to Mac OS X, he then decided to leave Team-XBMC (due to reasons I will not go into here) and go out on his own and start a his own new project based on XBMC for Mac. Plex was never formally named ÃoeOSXBMCÃ, it was only referred to as OSXBMC because Elan previously had a blog on osxbmc.com in which he posted news of the progress on the porting development. I say support the original XBMC.

Re:XBMC ?

[Em Ellel]

The developers haven't legally licensed the Xbox XDK, and so they can't legally distribute binaries. So you'll have to find them somewhere illegitimate.

Even if you own the SDK, which, I think, average joe CAN buy, distributing binaries is disallowed under SDK EULA without MS's blessing, which they will not give for XBMC. This is pretty much same problem as iPhone developers have, except unlike iPhone there are no alternative ways to compile code for XBOX - you HAVE to use the MS SDK and as such MS can sue for distribution of compiled binaries (which then have to be distributed along side of other illegal material like movies and music and thus looks just as illegal).

On the flip side, at least there is no Apple "Fight Club" rules for MS SDK - you ARE allowed to talk about it without getting sued.

-Em

Re:Product name whack-a-mole

[HTH NE1]

Does that mean that we can rearrange them any way we like? XBMC == XMBC == XCBM == XCMB == MBCX == CXMB == CMXB == BMXC ad naseum?

"Ad nauseum"? Remind me never to get on a Tilt-a-Whirl with you. There are only 24 permutations.

Re: OS X Users

[elan]

Hi Gamester! (Cyberace1?) Gamester (one of the project managers of XBMC) is hardly an impartial observer. There are a number of features that Plex has that XBMC does not, and many report it to be more stable on their Macs. Not to mention he keeps misspelling my last name, which is "Feingold".

Come to the Plex forums (forums.plexapp.com) or download Plex to compare for yourself, but take his statements (posted under a pseudonym) with a grain of salt.

Re:Plex

[Michael Hunt]

I'd be likely to take you more seriously if you could spell Elan Feingold's name correctly.