DVD Playback Separated from Windows 8

Windows 8 will not include built-in software for DVD playback, unlike Windows 7. The change affects organizations that want DVD playback on Windows 8 computers (for example, in training labs). Those organizations will have to order their computers with the necessary playback software preinstalled by the computer manufacturer, or buy and deploy the software themselves, as many did with Windows Vista.

DVD playback on Windows requires a set of codecs for which royalties must be paid. Microsoft has decided not to license the required codecs for all copies of Windows 8, arguing that it would increase the cost of computers and tablets that ship without DVD players. (Windows 8, like Windows 7, will also not include codecs for Blu-ray disk playback.) The change does not affect streaming video, for which Microsoft has licensed the necessary codecs in Windows 8.

Microsoft will offer add-on DVD playback software. The add-on software will run on Windows 8 Professional and Enterprise, but not on the Windows 8 edition offered to most consumers. Microsoft has not said how the add-on software will be made available to organizations that deploy custom Windows 8 images built from volume license media. Most likely, the company will sell the add-on software in volume licensing as it did for Windows Vista, some of whose editions lacked DVD playback.