No, quite the opposite actually, they released firmware 1.8 specifically to include Media Server support, there’s big “Find Media Server” icons in the XMB now, WMP 11 Media Server & Nero Media Home also work.
Why you always gota be so negative dude? You know you come across as little whinging b#tch with all the pessimistic comments you post. Are you Emo or something? Sounds like you need something to bring some joy into your life man so you’re not always constantly knocking everything, you must be emo I swear.
Sony aren’t stupid, they know what people want. They’re going all the right ways with their firmware releases, they get better every time. You should read about the upcoming future releases like 2.0 too.