A little harsh there...

MCE records tv in a format called DVR-MS, which is basically just mpeg2 with additional metadata (info on the show).

Mpeg2 is the same format that DVD's are encoded in.  An encoded format takes what would be a VERY large file, and makes it a bit smaller.  If you were to take a movie, that was in unencoded AVI format, instead of being 4-8 Gb - it would be mindnumbingly HUGE.  Taking a raw video stream and encoding it into mpeg2 format takes some computing power, that is why one of the requirements for MCE TV cards is that they must do this in hardware.  So the video stream coming out of the tuner card is already in mpeg2, MCE doesn't need to do much to it.

So in order to watch an mpeg2 video (DVD or recorded tv) MCE needs to decode the encoded mpeg2.  You need a piece of software (the decoder) to decode the mpeg2 stream.  MCE does NOT include this software. The reason MCE does not include the decoder is because DVD movies are copy encrypted (css), and in order to create a decoder that is capable of decoding css encrypted mpeg2, the author of the decoder needs to pay a liscence fee.  Since there are plenty of companies out there creating DVD player software (they needed to pay this liscence fee in order to do that), M$ saw no reason to reinvent the wheel (and shell out some bucks) to create thier own.

So now that leaves the end user of MCE needing a mpeg2 (IE DVD) decoder.  MCE also has a few special requirements - so not every decoder will work.

Acceptable decoders are: newest version of WINDVD, PowerDVD, and Nvidia

You can download trial versions of these software packages and see which you like best.  I recommend the Nvidia decoder, seems to work best for me, and you can buy just the decoder - no need to buy the entire dvd player software.

Link to nvidia decoder

http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder.html

Also, M$ created a utility program to help determine (or set) which decoder it is going to use, and whether or not it is compatible.

Link to decoder utility

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DE1491AC-0AB6-4990-943D-627E6ADE9FCB&displaylang=en

Good Luck,

Mash