[Livin]

Just wondering what the devs and longtime XBMC users think about the XBMC off shoots like Boxee, Plex and others?

These are quickly gaining popularity since they are making usability and connectivity to online services priority.

I like XBMC but the others are quickly catching up. I don't think it will be long before the others are on par with the slick things XBMC does, plus adds all the online services many of us want but currently must use scripts and plugins to get... which are not really integrated in XBMC - clunky to access/use.

This is not a "feature comparison" thread - please do not post reviews or wishes lists. This is for the devs/users to give thought on how XBMC will be affected by the off shoots and possibly what the future of XBMC can be.

[seedzero]

I don't know about "catching up". Each of the projects you mentioned are going in different directions than XBMC.
I used Plex on a mac mini until I discovered XBMC and I can honestly say I prefer XBMC by a long shot.

[natethomas]

Re: Boxee, neither group really feels threatened by the other, because the purposes are so different. The goal of boxee is primarily to make it as easy as possible to access cloud based video and to share that access among friends and fellow users. Local media is almost secondary to Boxee's purpose.

XBMC, meanwhile, puts local media and the "home theater pc" concept front and center, focusing on ease of use, prettiness, and being able to play the best local media humanly possible. For cloud based media, we use plugins or addons, which says a lot about the XBMC focus.

Point being, Boxee and XBMC are pretty cozy bedfellows at the moment. Heck, Boxee is one of our primary sponsors. And we both contribute code to each other on a reasonably constant basis.

[mcborzu]

I tried Boxee, I can see their vision and how it's different. It very nice for what they are doing but for me I want total/more control over my media and not be dependent on other services. At anytime Hulu/NBC/CBS can change their licensing. Some shows only have the last 3-4 episodes, I perfer more access.

Plus I love skins and XBMC has about 10 kick ass skins...