Windows 8 will not have native DVD playback

[Keven]

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...windows-8.aspx

Microsoft says that Windows 8 will not be able to natively play DVDs out of the box. They're citing the overall decline in physical media for the reason.

They're probably right, but I'm still really disappointed. The native playback in Win7 was a nice touch and I even had hoped for native Blu-Ray playback in Win8, but, Microsoft continues to disappoint.

[kbohip]

I couldn't care less. Unless some major changes come to Win 8 before it's released, there's NO way I'll upgrade to it. It should be great for tablets though.

[grimmster]

Someone actually uses the native player?!?

[richardd43]

Someone actually uses the native player?!?

Made me laugh, was thinking the same thing.

[John C]

LOL, yep, especially with MPC-HC available for free.
And Keven, Microsoft will NEVER have native Blu-Ray playback. Sony is a direct competitor against the Xbox, and there is no love lost between them since Sony bought out the studios to get rid of HD-DVD.

[bmaverick]

Opensource VLC player.

http://opensourcewindows.org

[John C]

Opensource VLC player.

http://opensourcewindows.org

My main computer I use XBMC which has free Blu-Ray playback. Works very well.

[Keven]

LOL, yep, especially with MPC-HC available for free.
And Keven, Microsoft will NEVER have native Blu-Ray playback. Sony is a direct competitor against the Xbox, and there is no love lost between them since Sony bought out the studios to get rid of HD-DVD.

Maybe. I suspect the next Xbox will have BD playback. Microsoft is facing a mini-revolt from Xbox developers over the DVD-9 format they use now. You're seeing Xbox games have to ship on 2-3-4 discs (at an extra cost to the publisher, which moans about it) or they have to downscale textures considerably and the game ends up looking like crap compared to the PS3 and PC versions.

Doubt the next 'box will be entirely dependent on digital games because way too many people don't have internet or are kids without credit cards. GameStop sells huge amounts of disc-based versions of extra content for games that is sold online (DLC) months after it came out.

Plus, with Netflix, Hulu and ESPN content, the Xbox (and PS3 for that matter) are becoming the center of people's TV media centers. I think a lot of folks would like to have Blu-Ray players, and I think it would make the PlayStation 4 (or 3) more appealing if the next Xbox had everything but Blu-Ray.

A completely unrelated rant to this topic.

[WilliamM2]

Someone actually uses the native player?!?

Why not? Windows Media Center is one of the few thing Microsoft seems to have done right. Can watch HDTV, netflix, internet TV, play any video file, DVD's, etc. I can't think of any other FREE program that has nearly as much functionality.

[sn00zie]

yea DVD playback isn't the only thing they are cutting


seems with windows 8 a keyboard and mouse are also useless legacy devices...

MS is being very apple with w8, for no reason.

[mmettin]

yea DVD playback isn't the only thing they are cutting


seems with windows 8 a keyboard and mouse are also useless legacy devices...

MS is being very apple with w8, for no reason.

Curious as to how you came to that conclusion...

Have you used W8 ?

[sn00zie]

im not serious, but the desktop and the sorts feel like 2nd class citizens on windows 8.

in the win 8 dev conf they called also an ethernet port a "legacy" connection.

[Enmore]

Ethernet ports are starting to disappear on some Macs. You have to buy an extra USB or Thunderbolt adapter is you still want it.

[sn00zie]

wired gigabit ethernet is where its at....... they can shun wires as much as they want but throughput talks.

wireless is a 2nd tier connection method.

[modru2004]

gigabit ethernet is pointless from a home user standpoint.

i love it and swear buy it at work because from an IT standpoint its great. all my switches are gigabit.

but at home its meaningless unless your routinely coping 5-10 gigabyte files across your network all the time.

i haven't really found a use for gigabit at home other than very large file transfers between devices. but once everything moves to usb 3.0 gigabits going to be fairly useless to a home user.

home users just don't need that much throughput. its great for company networks though.