3.5 out of 5

One of the most amazing pieces of freeware that I’ve ever used is finally available for the PC – XBMC. It originated as a media center for the original Xbox. A simple software hack with some ftping and you’re xbox was transformed into a media center PC; able to play virtually any media file across your home network. The software is so well put together. The interface works well, the options are endless. I can’t believe the amount of time these guys have put into software for a hacked game platform. It seems obvious that it should move over to the PC.

A few months ago it was released for OSX. The other day it was released for Linux and windows as well. It’s still in beta, but I’ve heard good things about it.

XBMC Media Center