OEMs Could Be Including Cheap DVD Playback For Win 8 PCs
PC vendors who are concerned that the lack of DVD playback ability in Windows 8 could hurt their sales have a new opportunity to custom configure their PCs with such a feature.
AMD recently mentioned a blog post of James DePloy, founder of commercial app distribution platform AppAttach, which enables PC makers to access discounted OEM deals of apps with "reduced" volume commitments.
It appears that the lack of DVD playback support may have spurred some interest from DVD playback software makers to cater to PC makers. DePloy noted that CyberLink's PowerDVD 12 is available to OEM's as a "quality, cost-effective DVD playback solution at an affordable price." He did not reveal how much CyberLink charges for PowerDVD 12 via AppAttach. The retail version of PowerDVD 12 is currently offered by CyberLink for $40.
Microsoft removed DVD playback capability in Windows Media Player to save codec licensing fees that were required in previous Windows versions. For every Windows 7 version sold, Microsoft paid $2 to the MPEG-LA.
Windows 8 users, however, can easily add this playback capability by installing the Windows 8 Media Center Pack, which is offered by Microsoft free of charge until January 31, 2013. After that date, consumers could opt to play DVDs via software such as the non-profit open source media player VLC.
ask microsoft... it's no accident that those programs are not included by OEMs
ask microsoft... it's no accident that those programs are not included by OEMs
I say why don't OEMs do people one better, and just install Ubuntu or other Linux distribution? Most of that software is pre installed, and there aren't any licensing fees for any of it.
Average computer users are stupid. They don't know how to use Firefox or Chrome instead of IE. I assume that the majority of us have a side gig... And personally, I've encountered MANY people that can't figure out how to bookmark a page outside of IE.
If HP began using VLC as their default media player, how many people would run away to Sony or Lenovo because they know how to use "their" software?
Please dont call the majority of people stupid just because they're not pc savy.
this article is about OEMs considering intalling some DVD playback software in their PCs to help boost sales. Win8 remoed this feature, so no OEM win8 pc will be able to play DVDs with media player without the media center pack or some 3rd party software. If an OEM decides to conveniently include a playback software like VLC, people are very likely to not run away cowering in fear of the convenience.
Coz most free software, including some of those you mentioned, are utter crap! Thats why.
Not as crap as the crapware they DO include on OEM PCs though.
why? including them just increases licensing costs, the vast majority of machines are not used to play DVD's or blu-rays so all that happens is those licensing bodies get a large undeserved income, far better off paying less when you don't need the codecs and then buying playback software if and when you actually need it.
As far as I know VLC can't come pre-installed with Windows for the simple reason that the MPEG-2 decoder required to playback DVDs can't be distributed legally without paying royalties (like the ones Microsoft has to pay) to the MPEG-LA in several countries. However, since it's not illegal in all countries around the world, it's the consumer that has to download the software from videolan instead depending on if the country he is in allows it or not.
It's also because of this (or at least was , I haven't installed Linux in a while) that some Linux distributions that come with VLC pre-installed don't come with certain codecs and you have to add them manually.
It's because of this sort of loophole that VLC is so popular and why Microsoft can get away with not supplying the MPEG-2 codec with Windows, because people think that VLC is a perfectly legal option and therefore think it's not a big deal that Microsoft is not supplying it anymore by default.
I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with Microsoft.
OEMs can't include software like VLC because the codec license holders (such as MPEG-LA) will sue them for royalties.
The reason they don't sue VLC is because VLC makers/owners have no money and are not selling the software for a profit.
MPEG-LA will milk the fat cats, but won't or can't do anything about the non-profit little guys.
Actually, if you go the VLC website, it'll say that you as the user are responsible for contacting MPEG-LA in order to pay the licensing fees if you use VLC (of course nobody does that).
I thought MSFT forced the use of its own codecs in Win 7 MC because they got tired of the crap that other vendors were shipping marring the use of a PC as an entertainment system.
And why is this spell checker so useless? It drops about 1/4 of the characters I type.
I'll accept the Blu-Ray angle, but not the DVD one. The world isn't the US, where people can stream stuff from a dedicated streaming service.
Most of the people i know do or have played DVDs on their computers, so i don't know where those vast machines of your came from.
Actually this is only partially correct. The MPEG licenses are free for individual non-profit use. However the moment you begin selling on a commercial level you're required to pay licensing fees. To give a general idea of why Microsoft doesn't want to this consider the following example: There is no hardware difference between a cheap Chinese knockoff DVD/Blu-Ray player and a name brand one. The only difference is the licensing fees they have to pay. They have to license the file format, multiple video decoders, multiple audio decoders, etc. Imagine having to pay an extra $20-$30 dollars for your OS just to play DVD's or Blu-Ray. You have to admit Microsoft is actually going in the right direction with this.