Windows 8 won't support DVD playback
-
Windows 8: Ready, Aim [and soon] Fire! Unfortunately, Microsoft seems to be aiming at its own foot. People may have been willing to deal with installing their own Media Players/Codecs in the XP days (after all DVDs had only just become commonplace) but now they expect this stuff to work out the box. Not only that, but the user base of the market necessarily become less technical, because the percentage of technical people all adopted early.
Sort of a cross between Lawrence of Arabia and Dilbert.[^]
-Or-
A Dead ringer for Kate Winslett[^] -
They are, but they don't control the group; they helped create a monster that has turned on them. Interestingly, a similar cartel was formed in the latter half of the 19th century, centered around sewing machines. It resulted in a dramatic reduction in innovation. I believe that among many other reasons was the fear of members that the cartel they created would turn against them and in the subsequent law suits, they'd lose the patents they'd contributed to the group. Regardless, I'm surprised how little scrutiny MPEGLA gets.
-
I read the Sinofsky blog linked to in the OP, all of the comments on it, and all the comments here. The one "puzzle-piece" that "jumps out at me as missing" is what the major hardware vendors are going to do: I can't imagine them selling new Win 8 (desktops, or laptops/netbooks that do include an optical drive) without out-of-the-box dvd and/or blu-ray play capacity, depending on what type OD is installed (do you think blu-ray is still a year, or more, away from replacing dvd as standard equipment (?)). So HP/Dell/etc., eat the cost of the codecs, or bundle some 3rd. party player app on the new Win 8 desktop ... or laptop with optical drive ... buyer: and the customer pays more ? I have seen no recent statistics, but I would estimate the use of all personal computers, per se, to watch video as increasing exponentially. The only thing I am sure of is that the consumer will pay more, and MS less. best, Bill
"Humans are amphibians ... half spirit and half animal ... as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time, means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation: the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.” C.S. Lewis
-
I read the Sinofsky blog linked to in the OP, all of the comments on it, and all the comments here. The one "puzzle-piece" that "jumps out at me as missing" is what the major hardware vendors are going to do: I can't imagine them selling new Win 8 (desktops, or laptops/netbooks that do include an optical drive) without out-of-the-box dvd and/or blu-ray play capacity, depending on what type OD is installed (do you think blu-ray is still a year, or more, away from replacing dvd as standard equipment (?)). So HP/Dell/etc., eat the cost of the codecs, or bundle some 3rd. party player app on the new Win 8 desktop ... or laptop with optical drive ... buyer: and the customer pays more ? I have seen no recent statistics, but I would estimate the use of all personal computers, per se, to watch video as increasing exponentially. The only thing I am sure of is that the consumer will pay more, and MS less. best, Bill
"Humans are amphibians ... half spirit and half animal ... as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time, means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation: the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.” C.S. Lewis
BillWoodruff wrote:
or bundle some 3rd. party player app on the new Win 8 desktop ... or laptop with optical drive
Most new computers that I've seen, even in the last few years, from the major OEMs do come with a 3rd-party DVD application, such as Real Player, WinDVD, PowerDVD, and others.
-
I believe there is unstated reason for this; MPEG-LA have made and broken promises about licensing. There are many disputed patents concerning digital media. Microsoft doesn't want to get caught in the crossfire when MPEG-LA starts a patent war (which I think they will.)
I suspect MS is also trying to avoid Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues which can be a nightmare. What "region" is a laptop bought in the US, taken to Europe and used to play a DVD bought in Japan on the last trip? Not that this is a huge issue for most users, but one that MS would have to consider in its negotiation of rights. Easier to just let the user install third party software that works without fear of law suits.
-
BillWoodruff wrote:
or bundle some 3rd. party player app on the new Win 8 desktop ... or laptop with optical drive
Most new computers that I've seen, even in the last few years, from the major OEMs do come with a 3rd-party DVD application, such as Real Player, WinDVD, PowerDVD, and others.
I've been seeing DVD playback software (and more recently, Blu-Ray playback software) included with new PCs AND new optical drives since the Windows XP days. People complaining about this creating additional cost should look at what they got with their current PC.
-
I read the Sinofsky blog linked to in the OP, all of the comments on it, and all the comments here. The one "puzzle-piece" that "jumps out at me as missing" is what the major hardware vendors are going to do: I can't imagine them selling new Win 8 (desktops, or laptops/netbooks that do include an optical drive) without out-of-the-box dvd and/or blu-ray play capacity, depending on what type OD is installed (do you think blu-ray is still a year, or more, away from replacing dvd as standard equipment (?)). So HP/Dell/etc., eat the cost of the codecs, or bundle some 3rd. party player app on the new Win 8 desktop ... or laptop with optical drive ... buyer: and the customer pays more ? I have seen no recent statistics, but I would estimate the use of all personal computers, per se, to watch video as increasing exponentially. The only thing I am sure of is that the consumer will pay more, and MS less. best, Bill
"Humans are amphibians ... half spirit and half animal ... as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time, means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation: the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.” C.S. Lewis
-
When was the last time you played a DVD on your computer? I know I have never done so with my current laptop and only once with my previous PC. And that time was only to test the new DVD drive I had installed. If you want the functionality, you can add it. By adding the Pro Pack with WMC. And the rest of us don't have to pay for said functionality that we won't ever use.
I just recently bought a copy of Power DVD for my netbook to play legal DVD images from my media server. Got it on discount for $15. :) Flynn
_If we can't corrupt the youth of today,
the adults of tomorrow will be no fun...
_ -
From Building Windows 8 Blog[^]. Very disappointing, and an additional reason to drive users to Mac. It seems Microsoft is doing their its to make Windows 8 fail miserably.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
Published 3 May 2012, from Microsoft: "Acquiring either the Windows 8 Media Center Pack or the Windows 8 Pro Pack gives you Media Center, including DVD playback" http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/03/making-windows-media-center-available-in-windows-8.aspx[^]
I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone - Bjarne Stroustrup The world is going to laugh at you anyway, might as well crack the 1st joke! My code has no bugs, it runs exactly as it was written.
-
From Building Windows 8 Blog[^]. Very disappointing, and an additional reason to drive users to Mac. It seems Microsoft is doing their its to make Windows 8 fail miserably.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
Dario Solera wrote:
an additional reason to drive users to Mac
Now, if only Apple hadn't decided DVDs are obsolete and nobody needs a stinkin' DVD drive...
'As programmers go, I'm fairly social. Which still means I'm a borderline sociopath by normal standards.' Jeff Atwood 'I'm French! Why do you think I've got this outrrrrageous accent?' Monty Python and the Holy Grail
-
Tablets and smartphones don't have DVD so why does it matter? Ohhh, that's right: Microsoft wants their smartphone OS used on desktops. Sorry, forgot.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
Well... yes, but then again so does Apple. Much more profitable to make it where all users have to get applications (and content) through an online repository or have some form of secure key to even run things they write themselves. (And this from a mostly mac user except where not possible.)
ragnaroknrol: Yes, but comparing a rabid wolverine gnawing on your face while stabbing you with a fountain pen to Vista is likely to make the wolverine look good, so it isn't exactly that big of a compliment.