We recently wrote about Any Video Converter, which is one of the best tools I've come across for batch converting those videos you have laying around. Last week I found a new app called XMedia Recode (English translation) for Windows, which is both free and portable. What makes this app so unique is the extensive number of built-in profiles that are included.

I've been using Windows 7 Media Center as my dedicated media hub for the last few weeks, and it's been a nice upgrade from Vista Media Center. Some improvements include support for up to 4 tuners for each type (QAM, ATSC, etc...), a lot of interface improvements, and HD support to name a few. It can even play AVI/DivX files natively without needing any add-ons.