Media Center Alternative Windows 10
The server will pull artwork and metadata for your media — as you'd expect from any good media center — but you have ultimate control over exactly what it is you want.At the initial set up of your server, you can also plug in your live TV if you're using something such as an, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, I don't have one of those, so I can't say how well the feature actually works.Getting up and running with Emby is a mostly pain-free affair. You just grab the companion apps from the Windows Store or on your Xbox One and then enjoy your lovely content.
At least if you purchase Emby Premiere first. Emby Premiere is a must-buy. Drum kit various vinyl. Plex has Plex Pass, and Emby has Emby Premiere. In both cases, to get the most from the service you need to pay up. In Emby's case, if you actually want to use any of the apps properly beyond just the server and its web app, you need to pay.It'll cost $4.99 a month, with plans available for a year as well. You can pay using PayPal and set up a recurring debit so you don't ever forget about it.
Once you've paid, you get a license key, which for the life of me I couldn't get the Windows 10 app to accept. Instead, I went to the Emby Server and entered it there.So what do you actually get for your money?
From the company. Emby gets a big thumbs up for having official apps available for Windows 10 PCs, tablets and phones, as well as for Xbox One. If you're using Emby Premiere, you get access to them completely free of charge to enjoy all your content.Visually, the official app is a bit of a throwback to the Windows 8 era, not like the sleek, Windows 10-inspired Plex app, for example.
Choosing a server is straightforward if you're on the same local network, or you can use Emby Connect to sync across the cloud.Emby also has the benefit of third party support, with a few apps available in the store to choose from. The best of these is probably Ember, but it's not free. It does have a free trial, though the full version will cost you $5.
Windows Media Center For Windows 10 Download
It's essentially everything you get from Emby officially, just wrapped up in a nicer application.Emby and Kodi. The one stop shop for all things media center gets a mention here because it integrates beautifully with Emby servers.The official Emby for Kodi add-on integrates with the native Kodi library, which means smooth, speedy access through your system. Emby does the heavy lifting with server-based transcoding, too, which means you can also integrate it into a mobile Kodi system and still get excellent performance.Installing is as easy as any other Kodi add-on, and Emby has the leg up over Plex here — also available on Kodi — by natively integrating into the Kodi system.
Media Center Software
It doesn't pull you into another interface to get at your content. It's all Kodi, all the time.Find out all you need to know at the links below.Emby bottom line. Emby is a super-solid media center for Windows users, with the added bonus of support for mobile and Xbox One. If you're already using Plex, there's not necessarily a reason to switch, but if you're not using anything else yet definitely give it a look.Where Emby edges ahead is when you hook it up to Kodi. Plex will require the use of its own interface, which might put some people off. Emby, which is priced similarly to Plex, is a more natural fit for Kodi users because it hooks into the native library while still offering server-side transcoding.Whichever you go for, though, using Windows 10 isn't a hinderance in any way to getting a top quality media server up and running.
Windows 10 users are actually spoiled for a change.This post may contain affiliate links. See our for more details.