tinyurl.com/ejyb6 -> www.apcstart.com/site/dwarne/2006/08/1139/microsoft-cuts-another-feature-full-hd-playback-in-32bit-vista
Front cover of the latest print issue of APC Preview current issue First Core 2 Duo motherboards tested: both P965 and 975X chipsets. Inside Vista Server: how it will make life easier for sysadmins.
jpg Microsoft revealed today that no 32-bit versions of Windows Vista will be able to play back "next generation high definition protected content" (translation - studio-released BluRay and HD-DVD movies). By far the majority of PCs use 32-bit processors, because despite AMD's efforts to push 64-bit CPUs into the marketplace early, Intel's first widely-promoted 64-bit CPU is the just-released Core 2 Duo. PC users will now have to choose between a PC that can play high definition content (64 bit) versus one that can potentially run older devices that only have unsigned drivers available (32 bit). "Signed drivers" are ones that have undergone a Microsoft quality-assurance process and received a digital certificate that certifies them as stable for installation on 64-bit Windows. Microsoft's move to drop support for playback of studio-released HD movies on Vista is likely to anger the large number of people who were hoping they could use their existing 32-bit PC with an upgrade version of Vista. "Any next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all," said Riley.
The media companies asked us to do this and said they don't want any of their high definition content to play in x32 at all, because of all of the unsigned malware that runs in kernel mode can get around content protection, so we had to do this," he said. Ed attendees currently played high-definition movies at home. "How many of you have a DVD player that you know can output a proper 1080 line non-interlaced?" By the time that stuff becomes popular, it'll no longer be an issue because everyone will be running 64-bit Windows," he said. However, earlier in his presentation, Riley had explained why Microsoft had decided to let unsigned code run in 32-bit Windows, but not in 64-bit Windows.
The app-compat hit, as we say in Microsoft, would be far too great if we did it in 32-bit Vista." In an interview hastily organised by Microsoft public relations staff after they learned APC was planning to run this story, Riley was at pains to point out that Blu Ray and HD-DVD were storage media and "you could put an MPEG-4 movie on them and play them on a 32bit Vista PC just fine." But he conceded that a commercially-produced BluRay or HD-DVD movie with next-generation high definition protected content wouldn't play on a 32 bit PC.
Submit to Digg 73 Responses to "Microsoft cuts ANOTHER feature: full HD playback in 32bit Vista goes" 1 that's a very nasty move, you may want to spend a lot of money hopping the best out of the box, to get this outcome, think twice, don't upgrade or buy Vista. Try any other operating system as well, it may not be at the same level as Microsoft Windows but you can have a better alternative.
Permalink 5 @halcon, what good would "trying another operating system do"? No other OS will be able to play protected HD-DVD/BR discs either. It lacks the DRM infrastructure (DRM is anathema to the Linux world). But that's not really relevant as to whether one would upgrade to Vista or not.
Poster #1, halcon: I want to view HD movies (hence why I am reading this article). So if I am looking for this feature, and you can't use an alternative OS (ie Linux), why are you trying to convince me to change my OS? When Linux can play content protected HD movies, *then* you can start to complain and to attemt to get me to change my OS.
I'll make extra sure that DVD security is not compremised in my house - I won't buy or rent or bring them anywhere near, how does that sound guys? now if only everyone would leave the DVDs at the store and not watch them their pressious content would remain safe. maybe they should just create only one copy of their movie and leave it in a vault?
I did 3 months back and I'll never use Windows ever again unless forced to at gunpoint. Tiger is already a better OS than Vista, and with Leopard just around the corner the gap is about to widen even more. Let's face it, most people would need to buy a new computer to run Vista, so if you are upgrading your hardware then might as well make it to a better platform. Macs are the future, and Vista is going to push a lot of people towards over to Apple.
What is silly is that the studios are driving technology solutions. We have 1 option for this type of media dictated by the people who put the content out. We should point the finger at the studios and not Microsoft.
first they ax all the useful features in Vista (see: WinFS), and now they're actively *removing* some of the only useful functionality from XP? Does Microsoft *want* to just drive people to Linux and MacOS?
This is just marketing crap that MS once again managed to brilliantly push down somebody's throat (the victims being the Hollywod idiots this time). It's interesting how people never seem to learn: for *any* weapon there's a counter-weapon, and it's next to imposible to beat this rule. hu, how they've essentially been able to write a *immense* full set of open source multimedia codecs libraries (including reverse-engineering most of the WMV formats), breaking into the video-processing stack of Vista will be late-night-drinking-session challenge for a determined hacker (oh and there are sooooooooooo many of those).
Now I have a good excuse to tell my wife so I can get a 64-bit system. Sorry, honey, I need this for the DVD player I don't yet have to play movies that also aren't on sale yet.
MS has taken so many of the so called promises' out of their OS, that one has to think that it's not going to be so much of an upgrade anymore! They should have kept the name longhorn, as that's indeed what it is.
Media PC's are becoming popular, but this is a big setback! Because of all this digital rights management, I will not buy another retail movie, until you back off a lot of this. I think you are opening youselves to lose more business from backlash, then you gain by preventing piracy.
I feel the reason they are not supporting playback on 32bit platforms is because of fear of piracy. Right now it's very easy for a haxor' to bypass any kind of disc protection by creating their own driver, however, they think that with their signing-requirements on 64bit drivers, this will be prevented. I personally don't buy it, I'm sure we'll all be seeing illegal copies of the latest highest res blu-ray videos despite anything they do, but I do like how much it will piss people off and make them angry at Microsoft.
When a new version comes out they drop a lot of stuff promised. If you really want a good os that will promise you everything use Linux. Linux is free and you can use it on as many computers as you like unlike microsoft to which you need a like a 300 licence and only on one computer. Go Linux you will wish you never heard of or seen windows.
Microsoft has something called Managed Copy that was intended to play HD movies on laptops and other devices after being loaded onto a PC or video server. This will create huge demand among consumers for a cracked 32 bit HD movie player. The movie industry will have a hard time convincing consumers that playing their own HD movies on non-approved hardware is somehow stealing. Effectively they are creating the legitimate demand for the same HD piracy that they are trying to prevent.
If there's one thing that makes my blood boil, it's DRM and stupid people who endorse it. Does this mean that I'm going to have to upgrade my PC and buy a copy of Vista to watch high definition movies? Considering it's either that or buy a hardware player and a TV to go with it, I think the option of waiting for the protection schemes to be cracked is looking pretty good.
This is just pathetic, If the crazy RAM and VRAM specs werent bad enough, now you will have to have a 64bit CPU to use a feature which will become common place pretty soon in most entertainment systems and other operating systems. Basicly, If you want to run Vista you will have to buy a new PC.
I've been pushing all my people to ONLY buy 64-bit stuff for the last 2 years. I...
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