Apple TV with Windows 7

[Hendog]

Does anyone have any experience running Apple TV from a Win7 machine? I'm considering getting a couple of ATV boxes to have music playing simultaneously in two rooms of the house. Are there any known compatibility issues with ATV and Win7?

[enzo1]

Bump... Apple support or walk into Apple Store and ask...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I have the Apple TV box and it talks to my computer (Win 7) just fine. It's a non-issue. Typically I download the content from iTunes and play it out to the Apple TV box rather than just renting the content through the Apple TV box (although you can do it that way also to avoid packing your computer with gazzilions of bytes of media content). With the iTunes on the computer you can actually buy (rather than rent) the content so you can re-watch it. The Apple TV box has no storage other than some memory, so your only option is to rent the content (you can't buy through the ATV box and then save to your computer either, at least I haven't found a way to do it).

Get an "N" router like the AirPort, or run ethernet cable to the box. This stuff requires a hell of a lot of bandwidth and it's maddening to have to sit and wait for transfers over a slow WiFi connection, that's my only advice.

The Apple TV is fabulous - it works great right out of the box. I'm very seriously considering dumping my Direct TV service as a result of having it (no more monthly bill, no more stupid dish on the roof, no more having a million channels that all suck just to get two that are worthwhile, etc.)

I really like the 100% pay-to-view model. If you're only a very occasional viewer (like me) this will be far more economical - my entire iTunes bill was about 30 bucks last month. DTV is almost 70. The ONLY thing Apple TV won't do is local broadcasting (which is largely garbage anyway) and live programming like sports (superbowl, etc.) but you can get that through a local channel with rabbit ears.

YMMV. Just my $0.02. I really suspect this will be the way of the future though. It really irritates the hell out of me to pay for such rotten content and have such terrible customer service from cable/satellite providers every month and virtually everyone I know feels the same way. If you have the bandwidth and don't mind thinking of your content in a slightly different way, it's a real alternative. I'm going to give it a month or two and if I still think it's the game-changer I think it is currently, the DTV is going permanently in the trash bin and that's the last I'll ever pay for "conventional" television.