The version of Windows Media Player that will ship with Windows Vista won't include playback support for either Blu-ray or HD DVD movie titles.
"In box we have the Microsoft VC1 decoder...but in order to do playback [of Blu-ray and HD DVD titles] you will need a third-party player such as...PowerDVD from Cyberlink," Mark O'Shea, OEM Systems Engineer for Microsoft Australia told CNET.com.au.
Windows Media Player 11, sans next-gen DVD playback capabilities
VC-1 is a Microsoft-developed video codec adopted by many movie studios as the video standard for their commercial HD DVD and Blu-ray titles.
At present, neither Cyberlink nor any other video playback software developers have made available HD DVD or Blu-ray players for retail purchase. Rather, the only players available are those that come pre-installed on Blu-ray/HD DVD equipped computers.
Microsoft's O'Shea is confident that the appropriate third-party playback software will be readily available by the time Vista officially launches in Australia, which is currently slated for early next year.
When asked to confirm whether or not Microsoft would ever build playback support for the two formats into Windows Media Player, O'Shea declined to comment, stating that Microsoft hasn't announced any such plans as yet.
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CDRLabs
25/08/2006 12:53 AM
And you're surprised by this? The current version of Windows Media Player doesn't let you play standard DVD movies without 3rd party support either. It's not like they can give away the MPEG-2 codec.
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TechCF
25/08/2006 01:58 AM
But for all the $$$ windows costs they could have included dvd playback. Software players retail for $12. I don't know the licence cost for BD/HD-DVD, but I know Vista will be expensive
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Sunday Ironfoot
25/08/2006 04:44 AM
They could bundle BluRay/HD-DVD playback in Vista and get being sued by companies like Cyberlink and Intervideo. Just as they were sued by Netscape for bundling Internet Explorer, and by RealNetworks for bundling Windows Media Player.
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