Windows 8 Media Center Pack includes DVD playback support. Microsoft is offering the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free until January 31, 2013 – click here to get it.
While it's somewhat cumbersome to set up, one method of forcing Windows 8 to boot directly to the desktop is presented here. This method was written for the Consumer Preview. I have not tested it with the Release Preview.
The master boot record limits the amount of partitions that may be placed on a hard disk. A maximum of 4 partitions are allowed.
It would appear from your screen shot that you have more partitions than 4 on your disk.
According to lifehacker.com "Microsoft is announcing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (aka the beta) tomorrow morning, February 29, at 6:00 am Pacific time.'
I assume that is the time when the WCP will be made available for download.