With the release of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro,
Microsoft made the decision to remove DVD playback, and forego the
inclusion of Blu-ray playback. Whereas with Windows 7 you could slot a
DVD into your computer and open it in Windows Media Player, that is no
longer the case with Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.
There is a very simple reason for this:
The codecs required to play DVDs and Blu-rays — primarily MPEG-2/4 for
video and Dolby Digital for audio — cost money. For every copy of
Windows 7 sold, Microsoft has to pay MPEG-LA (a patent-holding
consortium) $2. Microsoft doesn’t give the exact figure for a Dolby
Digital license, but it’s probably in the same ballpark. This cost is
passed on to the consumer, whether you play DVDs or not. For Windows 8,
with streaming services taking hold and optical drives dying out,
Microsoft basically decided that it wasn’t worth paying for the codecs.
If you do want to play DVDs on Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro, however, there are two very easy solutions.
Install Windows 8 Media Center Pack
If have purchased (or otherwise
acquired) Windows 8 Pro, you can obtain Windows Media Center for free
until January 31, 2013. All you have to do is enter your email address
and a free license key will be sent to you. After January you will have
to purchase the Media Center Pack (it’s unlikely to be too expensive;
$20 maybe).
If you only have the vanilla version of
Windows 8, you will need to purchase the Windows 8 Pro Pack, which costs
$70. For that, you get a full version of Windows 8 Pro, Media Center,
BitLocker encryption, Remote Desktop, and a few other tidbits.
Once you have Media Center installed,
you will be able to play DVDs — but only in Media Center, not Media
Player. You also gain the ability to watch and record broadcast TV, if
you so wish. You won’t, however, be able to play Blu-ray discs — for
that, you’ll need a third-party player.
Install a third-party player
The other option, of course, is to
simply install VLC — a free, open-source media player that will play all
of your DVDs and unencrypted Blu-ray discs. VLC will also play
encrypted Blu-ray discs, but that’s beyond the scope of this story.
If you prefer commercial, closed-source
software, there’s always the infamous Cyberlink PowerDVD , which plays
DVDs and Blu-ray discs — but it’ll set you back around $50. Don’t
forget, though, that most modern computers are bundled with some kind of
DVD/Blu-ray player — and if you bought a standalone Blu-ray drive, it
almost certainly came bundled with some software.
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