Share media around your home with Plex Media Server for Windows

Plex Media Center is a program that lets Mac computers access media from other computers on the network. This download, Plex Media Server for Windows, allows Windows computers to share their content.

Installation is simple and it will automatically configure the Windows Firewall to give internet access. Plex Media server only exists in the Notification Area so we were pleased to see a small notification get your attention.

All of the settings are made using a web browser. It will work in Internet Explorer but recommends the Google Frame plug-in to work in Google Chrome inside Internet Explorer if you don't have that alternative browser installed.

It is quite easy to add libraries for different kinds of media including photos, music, videos and TV Shows. Each can contain one of more folders that Plex will scan for relevant content.

There are also Plex clients (programs for playing media from the network) for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

The server itself can also be installed on computers running Linux using the instructions here on the Plex website.

The minimum requirements for Plex Server for Windows are a Windows XP SP3 with a 1.6GHz Intel Core Duo processor and at least 512MB of RAM. If you plan on transcoding HD Content (resizing it on the fly) a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor with at least 2GB of RAM is recommended.

The Plex Wiki also points out that the quality of your home network will have a big impact on whether high-definition content can be played on different devices. They recommend a wired network if possible.