[ZetaVu]

I think rather than worrying about vista or mce, SS needs to start digging into what it will take to get cablecard to work with them. Will cablecard require vista OS, a prebuilt/installed computer, or will it would on DIY systems as long as the video card is secure and only with secure drivers. I see no reason why a preinstalled computer is not as easy to hack as a diy, and any security measures for one will be as strong/weak for the other.

Either way, SS needs to be able to interface with cablecard if that's the future direction, however all indications are cable companies aren't planning on supporting cablecard devices other than tv's unless they provide them, which will probably screw m$ and SS equally.

QAM is a must it seems, at least for those who can't get a good ota signal. I can, but you never know where I might end up. scrambled channels is a different story, which leaves either a firewire hack (which brings up legal issues) or component/digital input to record hidef cable.

I don't think there will be an easy solution for either m$ (no matter how much money they throw around) or SS. In turn, I see more movement of hidef movies to internet downloads and away from cable, and these of course will be DRM and pay per view, basically back to renting dvd's.

It will be interesting to see how cable and satelite providers respond, will they be smart enough to back off their restrictions and let people make recordings (as they can now) or restrict themselves out of existence?