Microsoft is likely to drop a separate release of its Media Center operating system in favor of a composite version for Windows Vista home editions.

“I’m very confident the standard consumer [version] of Vista will have Media Center built into it,” Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft said. “It’s just going to be a part of the OS.”

PC World reports:

Rosoff is echoing what has been published in various reports, though a representative from Microsoft’s public relations firm Waggener Edstrom said Monday the company is not confirming how Media Center will be built into Vista, or if there will be a separate Media Center edition for Vista.

Michael Gartenberg, analyst with Jupiter Research, acknowledged that Microsoft itself may not be sure how it’s going to package Windows Media Center for Vista, which is expected to be available before the end of the year. Still, he expects the core features of Media Center, such as providing users access to television programming and digital media on the PC, to be included in the Vista release.

“Look for Media Center to be very much a part of the consumer Windows experience,” Gartenberg also said.