TECH Windows 8 dropping the ability to play DVDs

Mods. I know this probably belongs in the Comm - Tech - PC Help forum, but thought it would be good to have this on the main for a couple of days. Feel free to move this if you like.

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Okay, we get it — DVD is starting to go the way of the VHS tape and film reel. But we've still got hundreds of DVDs in our house, and always pack a few in our laptop case for viewing on those long flights. That's why this news is so frustrating: The upcoming Windows 8 operating system (which you can download and preview now) is dropping the ability to play DVD content.

According to Windows engineering team member Steven Sinofsky (emphasis his), "Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions, but without DVD playback support. For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray." In other words: If you want to watch that Bridesmaids DVD on your next plane trip, you're going to have to pay extra for software that will let you play it, even if your laptop already has a DVD drive. And don't think getting Blu-ray is an option — you can't play that straight from the box, either.

If you're left scratching your heads, the rationale behind dropping DVD support is simple: It's about the bottom line. Says Sinofsky, "traditional media playback scenarios, optical media, and broadcast TV, require a specialized set of decoders (and hardware) that cost a significant amount in royalties." Windows 8 will allow customers the option to install a Windows Media Center upgrade to allow DVD playback at extra cost, though Microsoft is not saying exactly how high that cost will be.

Will the move confuse customers when Windows 8 hits stores this October? Almost certainly. Will not including DVD playback hurt sales of Windows 8? Probably not at first, but we're willing to bet the change adds to the level of frustration people sometimes have with a new operating system. And when combined with some of the other frustrations of Windows 8, such as a tablet experience being shoehorned into a PC format, Microsoft may very well be playing with fire. There's a reason why so many people are still running Windows XP on their computer, after all.

This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

Story courtesy: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/windows-8-dropping-ability-play-dvds-171546904.html

Fair use applies

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In my opinion, Microsoft has shot themselves in the foot once again. Not to say that playing DVDs is the most important feature of an operating system, but why take something away? Does the added hardware & cost of royalties cost that much?

As it is, they're already shipping PCs out with less and less. Most PCs ship without a set of restore CDs, something that used to be part of the package. Some PCs don't even come with a mouse or keyboard.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, most of the newer versions of their operating systems have been a big disappointment and in my opinion inferior to their predecessor. While Windows 7 was a major improvement over Vista, there are still many features that I do not like in Win7 and still prefer the functionality of Windows XP.

Although I occasionally have to use a Win7 PC, I still prefer my WinXp machine. I hope to be able to continue using it until I'm to old to use a computer, but am afraid that Microsoft will probably soon force us die-hard XP users to upgrade.

So I think I'll pass on Windows 8

Never had much luck playing DVDs anyway. Seems they mostly come with some additional software the OS detects and wants to load. Usually hoses something, or just won't play. When I want to watch a DVD I do it on the Mac.

What happens with something like a educational program disc with embedded vids? How is that going to work?

Kathy in FL said:

What happens with something like a educational program disc with embedded vids? How is that going to work?

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Assuming the computer manufactures continue to ship their PCs with a CD/DVD player-recorder, I would expect that they will provide some type of media player software to accompany the hardware. If not, there are several free media players that are available on the Internet.

Also, I don't know if I agree that DVDs are "starting to go the way of the VHS tape and film reel" as the article suggests. DVDs are still quite popular even though Blu-Ray hasn't taken off like they expected

To be honest, I've always thought that WMP was pretty bad at playing dvd's.

For free players, try VLC Media Player or Media Player Classic. Both have their pluses and minuses. But, they are free and work pretty well.

For a pay version, I used to have PowerDVD. But, I haven't used it in years. Back then, it was great!

And I thought the shift to touch-sceen, which requires a new touch-screen display would keep me away from Win 8. Guess we got lucky by our 7 year old Win XP box crashing this weekend, sending us shopping for a new Win 7 machine.

However, I would think that a Win 8 machine owner could download something from Real Media to handle video that Win 8 won't include coverage for.

I use VLC Media Player almost exclusively. It covers a wide range of video and audio formats and is a free download. It is also powerful if you want to adjust audio or video qualities yet it still works well as a basic media player.

Another vote for VLC.

Here's the link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

Does DVD/CD and almost any format you uh, save or whatever a video/music file in.

Add me to the VLC bandwagon! Great piece of software.

+1 for VLC....

But as far as Microsoft goes - they have HUGE amounts of data on how people use their software. And HUGE is a vast understatement. They're certainly not stupid. If you've seen the studies they've done for including the "ribbon" in applications rather than a traditional/old school menu bar, it's quite staggering. Point is: if some versions, or even all versions of Win8 don't come with DVD playback codecs already licensed and installed, it's not going to be hurting anyone. They take their user experience research seriously, and eventually do something with all the research and data they have.

ichoric said:

+1 for VLC....

But as far as Microsoft goes - they have HUGE amounts of data on how people use their software. And HUGE is a vast understatement. They're certainly not stupid. If you've seen the studies they've done for including the "ribbon" in applications rather than a traditional/old school menu bar, it's quite staggering. Point is: if some versions, or even all versions of Win8 don't come with DVD playback codecs already licensed and installed, it's not going to be hurting anyone. They take their user experience research seriously, and eventually do something with all the research and data they have.

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If I had to guess I'd bet they have seen hundreds of thousands of threads like this one.

Chances are they own or will simply buy VLC,

Sort of like the Android Market-it was [[for what I could tell]] sort of an open source deal now it has suddenly been enveloped by the Microsoft Blob.

Satanta said:

If I had to guess I'd bet they have seen hundreds of thousands of threads like this one.

Chances are they own or will simply buy VLC,

Sort of like the Android Market-it was [[for what I could tell]] sort of an open source deal now it has suddenly been enveloped by the Microsoft Blob.

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One of the nice things about open source software, is that the developers often can't stand MS. So, if VLC goes that way, you can expect an even better new title coming out shortly. But, I really doubt that MS would buy it, since they think dvd's are going away and could have easily just left it in WMP. Still, a stupid decision, I think... even if I never use it.

BoatGuy said:

To be honest, I've always thought that WMP was pretty bad at playing dvd's.

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My opinion as well. I've always used the Showtime player that came with Nero. Far better than Media player.

BoatGuy said:

To be honest, I've always thought that WMP was pretty bad at playing dvd's.

For free players, try VLC Media Player or Media Player Classic. Both have their pluses and minuses. But, they are free and work pretty well.

For a pay version, I used to have PowerDVD. But, I haven't used it in years. Back then, it was great!

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Wow, that's pretty much what I was going to say.

I have recently dropped PowerDVD because ArcSoft TotalMedia Player works much better for blu-rays on my computer.
PowerDVD was becoming a major pain.

Oh, KMPlayer is another good freebie too!

+1 for VLC, really good piece of software

Hmmm! Well, I had been putting family memorabilia on DVD's guaranteed to last for a while only to find what I suspected might happen, nobody will be able to read them once my youngest grandchild (all of seven weeks old) will be old enough to be interested.

Not encouraging

Wonder how many irritating versions of Windows 8 MS will release. Windows 8 Premium, Ultimate, Maximum and Uber? Which is the best? Which is enough? Which is the top of the line because I can't tell by the title? Enough is enough.

I see this as a non-issue. the MS media players have sucked the big electronic weenie for a VERY long time. Lots of FREE DVD/BRD software out there that works perfectly. Whenever I accidentally start something playing with WMP, I just roll my eyes, close the app, and run it with something else.

No big loss. Matter of fact, everyone will be far better off. And MS should have stayed the hell outta the web browser world as well...