What can I say except that Microsoft is the only company that releases an inferior product after years of having a great product. Windows 8.1 and 8 would be fine if it were compatible with old hardware i.e. printers and had Windows Media Center. This is now a very bare bones product. I certainly won't be paying the $129 price tag for Windows Pro 8.1 pack, just to get media center - not when there's so many free alternatives around for that. In future, don't purchase a photo quality printer that costs a fortune. Buy a nasty cheap one with inexpensive cartridges, as eventually you won't be able to install the older software for your far superior printer i.e. Epson stylus photo 1270.  Sounds like a collusion with both Microsoft and Printer manufacturers to get folk purchasing hardware they don't want or need, while they're older hardware works just fine - it's the new operating systems that don't. No thank you.

Hi,

Please understand that Microsoft's partners have shared clear concerns over the costs associated with codec licensing for traditional media playback, especially as Windows 8 enables an unprecedented variety of form factors. Windows has addressed these concerns in the past by limiting availability of these experiences to specialized media or premium editions.  

That's why the Media center is separated for additional cost.

For the compatibility thing about older device, you can use the compatible mode to install the related driver on Windows 8 and 8.1 to get it work.

Making older programs compatible with this version of Windows
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/older-programs-compatible-version-windows