If you were looking to upgrade your current 32bit PC to Windows Vista and enjoy high definition content on it then you’re not going to be happy with what Microsoft had to say about that during Tech.Ed 2006:
“Any next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all,” said Riley.
“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.
Seems Microsoft is whoring itself out to the big media companies at your expense. But that’s OK, says Microsoft, this isn’t as big a problem as it might first appear:
Riley then attempted to pre-empt audience concerns over the newly imposed limitation by asking how many of the Tech.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?”
No-one raised their hands.
“OK… look around. By the time that stuff becomes popular, it’ll no longer be an issue because everyone will be running 64-bit Windows,” he said.
So the solution is simple: Microsoft wants everyone who’s currently got a 32 bit based PC to go out and buy all new 64 bit hardware so they can make use of DRM technology that’ll restrict your Fair Use rights while the pirates continue to watch high def content on whatever they wish to run it on. Which is why I used the word “legit” in the headline. The pirates will continue to enjoy their high definition content free of any restrictions at all and without having to spend a time to upgrade their hardware.
I get the impression Microsoft is hoping that high def ends up being one of the killer apps that moves new hardware (and thus copies of Vista) out the door, but I’m not entirely convinced that’ll do it. I’d love to have a high def TV set, but the truth is that they’re still expensive enough that I can’t justify one—especially not until I have a house to put it in—and I’m not all that unhappy with the video quality of standard DVDs at the moment. Almost everyone I know who does have high def TVs has told me that it’s nice, but not something they couldn’t have lived without if they had to. If anything this announcement may give a lot of folks one more reason not to bother upgrading to Vista at all.
Proudly making the full transition to Ubuntu Linux. Windows XP will be the last M$ OS I interact with.
Gaming will be left to consoles, where everything is proprietary anyway.