PCs running Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition finally entered the mainstream consumer market last year, Current Analysis has claimed.

The media PCs claimed eight per cent of the US retail market in January 2005, and soared to 48 per cent in December, according to data collected by the analyst firm.

Increased demand was sparked by a drop in price after manufacturers started omitting tuners which allowed the systems to receive and record television signals.

The tuners have already started to make a comeback, however, with TV tuner equipped systems improving their market share from 8.7 per cent in October to 12.8 per cent last month.

While omitting the TV tuners allowed Media Center PCs to reach a mainstream audience, the component is critical to the system's success in its battle for the digital home, Toni Duboise, senior analyst for desktop computing at Current Analysis, claimed in a research note.

"The upward TV tuner-clad trend is a small victory for Media Center with regard to the digital home," she said.

"The TV arena is pivotal turf in the war for the digital home because it offers the most opportunities for lucrative infrastructure and broadcast content.

"Manufacturers that want the desktop computer to be the centre of the digital home will want consumers to use TV tuner-clad PCs instead of TiVo, dedicated digital video recorders or intelligent set-top boxes."

PC manufacturers can sell Windows XP Media Center Edition as part of any new system, and the operating system is also a requirement for Intel's Viiv programme that seeks to push entertainment PCs.

Microsoft first unveiled Media Center Edition in October 2002. The systems have had only a limited impact so far because consumers refused to buy the more expensive hardware needed to run the software, and were not inclined to watch TV on a computer monitor.