Update Microsoft 32 bit Vista will not support HD movie playback

August 25, 2006

In another blow to the consumer, not to mention both blue laser formats, Microsoft's Senior Program Manager, Steve Riley, let it slip during a Microsoft Vista presentation, that "next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all."

Looks like the only way you will be able to playback the new Blu-ray or HD-DVD movies on a HTPC running Windows, will be to make the leap to 64 bit computing. The reason this is a blow to the consumer, is that a lot of folks probably figured that they could simply upgrade their present system with the proper 32 bit Vista version and a blue laser drive, then they would be good to go. But, this will not be possible as Microsoft has folded to Hollywood piracy concerns. This is going to leave a huge percentage of Windows desktops out in the cold, as the vast majority of users presently run 32 bit.

'This is a decision that the Media Player folks made because there are just too many ways right now for unsigned kernel mode code [to compromise content protection]. 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.

Well, so much for that. Make sure to read the whole article, as Microsoft is sure that blue laser is not going mainstream on the PC for years. At least they feel by the time it is, "everyone" will be running 64 bit systems. I am beginning to think they are right now. However, it's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy now, with this bombshell.

How about you bleeding edge CD Freaks out there...how many of us are 64 bit ready now? Even then, how many meet the stringent hardware requirements necessary to output one of these films to a monitor or display, or even intend to in the next year or two?

*Update* Looks like there is more to the story now, as this has generated a lot of buzz already and damage control is engaged at Microsoft. First, here is a comment from a regular poster at the AVS Forums, Industry Insiders Q&A Thread, where member Amirm - who is known in there as a Microsoft "HD-DVD insider" has this to say about the report, when asked directly by another forum member whether this report is true or not:

"As I suspected, there is no merit to these stories. Vista will not in any way block playback of HD content (HD DVD or otherwise). We do have facilities in the operating system for applications to query whether there are unsigned drivers in the kernel, and as such, may be a potential risk to secure playback of high-def content. But it is up to the application to decide what to do with such data. They can, as they do today on XP, playback anything they like and ignore that information. And to be clear, no request has been made from content owners to block playback of HD content in Vista in 32-bit mode."

We also have just seen this follow-up to the original article at APC, where Microsoft has commented on their Windows Vista Team Blog , clarifying its statement that playback of protected high-definition content won't be possible in Windows Vista 32bit.

"To be clear, Microsoft is stating here that their Senior Program Manager Steve Riley said the wrong thing during his presentation on Windows Vista Integrity."

Microsoft now says:

"The real deal is that no version of Windows Vista will make a determination as to whether any given piece of content should play back or not. The individual ISV providing the playback solutions will choose whether the playback environment, including environments that use 32-bit processors, meet the performance requirements for playback of protected High Definition content."

So what does that mean?

It is up to a particular ISV to determine which environments are suitable for their playback solutions. Not Windows Vista, and not Microsoft. To help ISVs make the playback determination, the OS will expose a list of any unsigned drivers on the system; nevertheless, it remains up to the ISV to determine whether playback will be enabled.

In other words, nothing has changed with respect to Microsoft's policies or development plans for protected HD playback -- which we addressed at WinHEC this past May -- and nothing has been cut from Windows Vista in this regard.

So, in a nutshell, it seems what Microsoft is
saying now is, they will not stand in the way of HD playback, but that it
will be up to the content providers as to whether their content will play back
on 32 bit systems.

Special thanks to D4rk0n3 who used our
news submit to tell us about this latest
development as well.