Windows Media Center has been one of the best media programs on Windows for quite a long time, but that didn't stop Microsoft from choosing to remove the program from Windows 8. However, users who are interested in Windows Media Center need not worry, it is available for free as long as they have Windows 8 Pro.

Until Jan. 31 2013, Windows Media Center will be free of cost to Windows 8 Pro users. If one should attempt to download it after the deadline, a price tag will be added. Not many fans of Windows Media Center will be happy with this development, Microsoft adding a price tag to program which was free in previous versions of Windows cannot be seen as a good move.

"If your PC is running Windows 8 Pro and you'd like to get Windows 8 Media Center Pack so you can watch and record live TV with Windows Media Center, you can take advantage of the following special offer," states the Microsoft Web site.

To add Windows Media Center to Windows 8, simply bring the mouse cursor to the top right corner of the computer screen, click the search icon and users are half way there. Next, search for "add features", then click settings, and finally, "add features."

The user will be asked to provide the Windows 8 product key to continue, if one is not available, the option to purchase a product key is available. Bear in mind, the offer is one code per e-mail address, after that, the used e-mail address will be saved in Microsoft's system to determine if a user is coming back for seconds. Users can simply create a few more e-mail addresses to get around this problem.

With Microsoft removing the Windows Media Center from Windows 8, it would not come as a surprise if the program is gone altogether when Windows 9 makes an appearance in the future.