Neowin Hands on: Sky Player in Windows 7 Media Center

Microsoft today held a UK launch party for Windows 7 and announced a major partnership with Sky.

Sky Player, Sky's online TV service, will be available to Windows Media Center users in Windows 7. Sky previously announced the same service will be available on Xbox 360 later this month but have now confirmed this will now be available to Windows 7 Media Center users too.

The service will allow users access to Live TV, on demand content, movies and sport. Existing Sky TV customers will be able to purchase an online Sky Player multiroom subscription for £5 per month. Customers with Sky Multiroom or Sky Broadband Unlimited will be able to access live channels for no extra charge. Non-Sky TV customers will require a monthly subscription that starts at £15 per month to the Base Entertainment Pack. In addition to the live channels, customers will also have access to on-demand programmes from channels they subscribe to.

Neowin got an early hands on with the addin for Windows Media Center and although it's beta and has some bugs, it's an impressive way to watch Sky content on a Media Center PC. We asked a Microsoft rep to take us through some of the features and you can see the hands on below.