Windows 8 Pro with Media Center is no Windows 8 Pro as they are activated by different class of product key. You can add Windows Media Center to Windows 8 Pro by requesting a product key from Microsoft for a limited time. As a developer, think twice to do so! The upgrade cannot be reversed and the only way to get your Windows 8 Pro back is to re-install it.

Given the following situation:
You have just upgraded your PC running Windows 8 Pro for software development to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center (with a new product key from Microsoft). Someday, there comes a new colleague and a new PC for him and you want to clone or restore images from your PC to the new one running Windows 8 Pro. Since your image is a Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, you need to request a new product key for media center from Microsoft to activate the new PC or you have to re-install from scratch. However, the upgrade is time-limited and it’s getting stricter to apply for extra keys because of some activation flaw. There is a good chance for you to re-install the who system and it’s not only annoying but wasting huge amounts of time.

It’s really unwise for Microsoft to remove Media Center out of Windows 8 Pro and not to disclose well that the Windows 8 Pro with Media Center is a completely different edition. This harmed my productivity seriously this week.