HD DVD on Vista Requires Extra Software

Vista users will need third-party software to play prerecorded HD DVD discs—the built-in Windows Media Player 11 and Media Center interfaces will not play them unless extra software is installed. Although this seems to counter Microsoft’s pledge to support HD DVD in Vista, this is similar to how Windows XP works with regular DVDs. Microsoft quietly revealed the details about Vista’s lack of HD DVD playback software in early 2006, but the story was not widely publicized until August and was clouded by an erroneous report of differences between 32-bit and 64-bit support.

Vista Support Similar to Windows XP

HD DVD is one of two competing and incompatible formats for high-definition video discs, along with Sony’s Blu-ray. In Sept. 2005, Microsoft said that Windows Vista would have native support for HD DVD and not Blu-ray. The company subsequently announced partner support for HD DVD on Vista during its May 2006 Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), saying “Windows Vista will be shipped with the drivers, file system and other components necessary to support HD DVD playback.”