Wireless music enjoyment with Windows 7

With Windows 7 you can enjoy your music anywhere. [By Gerrit Grunwald]

Over the course of time, a sizeable MP3 collection has accumulated on the computer, games consoles can now be integrated into the home WLAN and even DVD players now have a network connection. Until now, however, one question has remained unanswered: how can I enjoy my music collection in the living room without having to fiddle around with USB sticks or even several CDs?

This is where Windows 7 with its PlayTo feature. Open Windows Media Player, right-click on a piece of music or a playlist that you would like to listen to and select Play in from.

A list of devices (e.g. the X-Box 360 or a WLAN radio) and PCs on which music can be played is then displayed. If a receiver device uses the Windows wma format is not supported, converts PlayTo automatically converts the music file into a compatible format. PlayTo even offers controls for managing the device, such as Playback, Skip tracks and Stopso that the PC becomes a remote control.

It's great that Microsoft has integrated this feature into Windows 7, but unfortunately a playback function for movies and images is still missing (at the moment). Hopefully the Redmond company will deliver this function later. We would be a big step closer to the invisible and silent HTPC (Home Theater PC).