Would you buy a Metro Blu-ray/DVD playback application?

[Vince53]

I'm not buying anything. There are free DVD players allover the web, and my computer's DVD player has the playback software built in.

 

[FuturDreamz]

I don't get this thread. I have Win8 cp, and all I do is stick a DVD movie in, and I get New Line Cinema player. I installed this player yonks ago back when I installed the DVD drive onto this PC, So I can only assume the player is built into the ROM of the drive, and my default music player works fine for CDs out of the box. So what am I missing here?

In the gold version DVD playback will be removed. Great that your DVD drive came with a decent program, but not all do. My Blu-ray drive came with a half-assed bloated program which was in all actuality a piece of crap.

 

[Vince53]

Mike Lonewolf, you're right on target. Media Center is a poorly-developed expensive program that you don't need. I only found out a few weeks ago that I didn't have it on XP or 7, and they play DVDs fine. When I tried to use it on 8, it locked up during set-up and I still can't use it, yet 8 plays DVDs fine.

 

[tseven]

This is another bad decision on their part. I will just download a free player or not even use it to play dvds. It doesn't even make sense to remove a basic function such as dvd playback. But oh well.

 

[chev65]

Mike Lonewolf, you're right on target. Media Center is a poorly-developed expensive program that you don't need. I only found out a few weeks ago that I didn't have it on XP or 7, and they play DVDs fine. When I tried to use it on 8, it locked up during set-up and I still can't use it, yet 8 plays DVDs fine.

That's a very uninformed and also incorrect statement. I won't even try to elaborate on how wrong you are here.

 

[Phone Man]

This is another bad decision on their part. I will just download a free player or not even use it to play dvds. It doesn't even make sense to remove a basic function such as dvd playback. But oh well.

Its all about the money and the amount of usage. MS has to pay a small fee to use the H264 codex to play DVD's. Only a very small amount of people use WMP or WMC as most that want DVD playback use other programs. To include the DVD playback on every copy of Windows costs millions of dollars. So MS decided why pay for every copy when so few actually use it. If you want it they will sell you a copy, or you can use whatever you want.

Jim

 

[Kat]

I've already got PowerDVD 9, it works just fine under both 7 and 8.
So no, I won't be buying anything.

 

[Dave76]

DVDs are going the way of the floppy, they are being used less all the time.

DVD and file players are available for free and paid so you can choose the one you need.

WMP and WMC are just not being used enough to justify the cost to all users.

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

Dave? That is TOTAL bunk! DVDs make a great storage media, lets look at the cost for storage per byte,
DVDs are royally inexpensive, you can purchase a blank DVD for less than a dollar, and you can back up a
average hard-drive, (NOT just files) with only a few DVDs, it use to take at least 50 CDs to preform the same
function, not even going with traditional backup which is thru the roof. Just divide you current system back up
media with the cost of ownership of DVDs, and *I* guarantee you with life span, and general media cost overall
DVDs will win out.

 

[Dave76]

It's good that we all have our own choice for storage media, I haven't used a DVD in a couple of years.

If they suite your needs, that is perfectly fine.
DVDs can get damaged, so they may not be the best choice for everyone, there are other options.

I use HDD and external HDD, also keep one external HDD off site, always multiple copies for data I would like to keep.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Part of me is wondering if microsoft is planning to sell seperately such an app as I had described...

How does one contact the dev team?

 

[Dave76]

They definitely are, probably their own and they get a percentage of sales from the WinStore.

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

You cannot directly contact the Microsoft Develop Team. BUT if you go to Microsoft's chat, one of the agents can get a member so you can voice your happiness with them.

 

[FSeal]

I voted no, prices to expensive because frankly, people will get their DVD/Blue-ray playback the same way they did before. As a free app that comes with the prebuild machine or DVD/Blue-ray player. OR the free VLC player.

As OP said, in some small number of HTPC cases maybe it would make sense but in all other cases Cyberlink will come preinstalled on all computers and laptops with windows8 installed on them I'm sure...

 

[gazz9496]

hadn't had to burn a dvd in years..then when I had too I didn't have any and found them quite hard to find in local shops...and I work in a computer shop.....even our suppliers don't have many hanging around due to the sheer lack of demand of blank dvd's.

as for blu ray.......complete waste of money, to even get remotly close to the video and audio quality the disks hold you'd need to spend thousands on sound and video equipment to appreicate it, anything less is pointless.

blu ray is for those with too much money to burn on a tv and sound system, great if you have it but pointless if you don't.

 

[crawfish]

No, because that would imply I would use Windows 8, have any interest in trying to make Blu-Ray work on a PC (gave up years ago and will never buy another ArcSoft, PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc), and can't get by fine with VLC for on-demand viewing and XBMC for library viewing and 10' interface. I can't vote for any of the poll choices, because they aren't even remotely relevant to the way I think about these things.

FTR, I owned one of each generation of Zune before jumping ship a couple of years ago, and the only Microsoft software I continue to use for multimedia is Media Center for DVR, and that's because it's the only game in town for CableCARD. Aside from this, Microsoft has been irrelevant to me for multimedia for about two years now, as much better programs are available for music, non-TV video, etc.

 

[FuturDreamz]

You cannot directly contact the Microsoft Develop Team. BUT if you go to Microsoft's chat, one of the agents can get a member so you can voice your happiness with them.

Which chat? I tried searching, but all of the top links are for websites that looks suspiciously like they're trying to look official.

 

[Tnlobo420]

None of those apps are Metro... Which is kind of my point.

I'm mostly just looking for a basic program that just plays DVDs and BDs (and can run all BD-Java content) that works with the Metro interface.


The bonus would be that, Providing Windows on ARM can use USB DVD/BD drives, you can watch your shows on one of those, too.

Here's a lucrative thought...How about coding a Metro app that does just that! I believe it is open to anyone to create them with Microsoft's blessings.
I'd be delighted to leave this to you, as my coding days went away with Cobol, Fortran, and GW-Basic....


John

fortran, i haven't heard that since my Navy days - kool

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

Ahem!! TnLobo!! Sort of forgot CICS, and Machine, and LETS not forget Basic C ***hmmmpffttt***