| What I want |
WMC |
MythTV |
SageTV |
BeyondTV |
XBMC |
Boxee |
MediaPortal |
Got All Media |
| Live TV |
Best |
Better |
Better |
Better |
HDHR |
Bad (MLB live games) |
Good |
Good |
| Menu Style |
Best |
Bad |
Bad |
Bad |
Best |
Good |
Good |
Bad |
| Tuner support |
Best |
Better |
Best |
Good |
No |
No |
Good |
No |
| Online Media integration |
Good |
Good |
Good |
None |
Good |
Best |
Bad |
None |
| Any Codec |
No |
Yes |
System |
System |
Yes |
Yes |
System |
Yes |
| Super stability |
With minimal plugins |
If you hardware is supported |
Yes |
N/A |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Place shifting |
Not yet |
Flash via Web |
Software |
Web interface |
None |
None |
None |
None |
| Netflix |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Platform specific |
No |
No |
| Hulu |
Plugin |
Plugin |
No |
No |
Plugin |
Yes (If it isn't blocked) |
No |
No |
| YouTube |
Plugin? |
Plugin |
Yes |
No |
Plugin |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Other Web Service |
Plugin |
Plugin |
Yes (hack?) |
No |
Plugin |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Cost |
OS |
Free (+$20/yr for schedule info) |
$100 + addons |
$100 |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
| Plugins |
Sorta |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes (Python) |
Yes (App Box) |
Yes |
Limited |
| Master/Slave |
Hardware Extenders only |
Hardware or Software |
Hardware or Software |
Software (BeyondTV Link) |
No |
No |
Software only |
No |