Software Update: Plex Home Theater 1.0

Plex has released version 1.0 of Home Theater, the new name for Plex Media Center. Plex is a media player environment that consists of a separate server and client environment. The client was previously a derivative of XBMC Media Center, but has now been rebuilt from the ground up and is no longer open source.

Plex Home Theater is available for Windows from Vista and OS X. Plex Media Server is also available for Linux in addition to the aforementioned operating systems. The program includes its own App Store, where plug-ins can be exchanged. For example, these plug-ins allow instant viewing of content from Hulu, Netflix, and CNN Video. In addition, there is PlexPass, a paid service that gives early access to new versions, in addition to discounts on ‘Premium features’. Furthermore, there is now also a web client. The release notes for this release can be found below.

Plex Home Theater 1.0 released!

If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll know that we’ve been working hard for the last 11 months on the next major release of our flagship media center software, Plex Home Theater. we’ve released 15 versions for our PlexPass members during this time, and we’re excited that we’ve finally reached the point where it’s ready for the world!

If you’re interested in all the detailed changes along the way, feel free to read the release thread, but let’s just say, almost every single thing about the app is improved: it’s faster, prettier, and more powerful. It plays more kinds of media, plays it more efficiently, and looks better doing it. It even has a brand new auto-update feature.

We really wanted to make sure this was a special release, because we know you’ve been waiting patiently for a while to get your hands on it. So we commissioned a beautiful new skin from the talented author of RetroPlex, who’s been one of the team for a while. Not only is it smooth, fast, and lovely, it also incorporates some enhancements we’ve made internally to finally provide the powerful server-side filtering which you’ve been enjoying in Plex/Web, Plex for iOS, and Plex for Android.