Filed under: Video, News, Windows, Microsoft
Clarification: HD has been stripped from all versions of Vista
Yesterday, Jordan blogged an announcement from Microsoft's Steve Riley that Vista users will need to have 64-bit superpowers if they want the ability to play HD video. It turns out this isn't entirely true, as Engadget is reporting that Microsoft has clarified the complication: 32-bit versions of Vista can play HD - but not without help from third party folk like CyberLink and InterVideo. The blame game still places the ball in the big media studios' court, as it is they who dictated that HD support be stripped out of Media Player 11 across the board, not simply one version of Vista or another.While the blame and complications are shifting around, I agree with Jordan's statement that the victims still remain the same: PC users, 32-bit and otherwise. Engadget is holding out that someone's going to cave before Vista ships, but I'm not so sure. Time will certainly tell, but for now it seems like Microsoft has had to strip yet another feature from Vista's drawing board.
After spending the better part of an hour on 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nalgae said 1:17PM on 8-25-2006
Now if they'd strip IE, we'd be all set.
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Franklin said 10:26PM on 8-25-2006
Is this really that big of a deal? Windows XP doesn't even play DVDs right out of the box. Even if you buy a PC or notebook with a DVD player, there's non-Microsoft software installed to enable DVD playback, or you're provided a separate install disc.
It doesn't surprise me that HD-DVD (and BluRay, too, more than likely) will be handled the same way with Vista.
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John Anderson said 12:35PM on 9-05-2006
Later: the accusation has been made that both DVD-HD formats emplace so much copy-protection and other junk that the resultant image not only does not live up to the hype but is actually worse than normal DVD. Keep an eye open.
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