[afavour]

I could do that, and indeed I used to use a Windows machine as an HTPC until I got sick of dealing with UIs that didn’t play well with remotes (in fairness it’s been years but desktop apps for streaming services were always deeply inferior and web sites were designed for a mouse).

The larger point though is that what you’re describing is not mass market viable. If the streaming services wanted they could shut off HTPC access overnight and they probably wouldn’t even lose a rounding error in terms of users. In a future world where every streaming service has their own stick with its own ads and own DRM I can absolutely imagine them doing that to force everyone over.