Microsoft Adds Blu-ray Support to Windows

From Blu-ray.com:

Microsoft is planning to release "Windows Feature Pack for Storage" which will add support for master style optical burning on Blu-ray discs. The pack has been in non-disclosure laced beta testing for
some time, but can now be seen on the Microsoft Connect website. When released, the pack will upgrade Windows XP and Vista, as well as Server 2003 and 2008.

Currently there is no planned release date for the Feature Pack.

[pwnsause]

AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHH AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH AHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA HHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH AHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH

Nuff said.

[Zerodin]

Joke's on you!
It may mean a paltry amount for Sony, but it means big dollars for MS.

[AlterEgo]

Doesn't Mac already support Blu-ray?

I'm pretty sure they do.

And maybe Microsoft should work on fixing their OS before thinking about big dollars from someone else's storage format.

[Thoas]

Yes Apple is on the Blu-Ray directors board. LOL M$ is late to the party again. Apple is already talking about puttin a Blu-Ry drive in there computers soon.

@Zerodin
Spin Spin Spin Spin till you fall

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Uh, you don't think that Sony/Blu-ray group wants this more than anyone? Why would they not want to be on the most used OS in the world?

I think you should change your "hahaha" to "thankyouthankyou".

It's not something new for the 2 companies to work together. I mean Windows is on Sony laptop's and Windows Mobile is being used on Sony phones including their upcoming new smartphone.

[Breakfast]

...i dont get it.

[LoVeRSaMa]

So they should tbh.

I don't really know why this is big news, Microsoft would be stupid not to otherwise ^_^

Either this news is very old, or companys have taken there time.

[zapass]

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA H AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA H AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA H HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH A HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH H AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA H AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH A HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH A HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH A HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH H AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA H AHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH A HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH A HHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA H AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA H AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA H AHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHH A HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH A HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA H AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA H HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH A HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH A HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH A HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA H AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA H HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH A HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH H AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA H AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA H AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA H HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH A HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH H AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA H AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH A HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH A HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH

[Shane Kim]

Damn , now I'll have to pay royalties!

[AlterEgo]

Hmm....did they ever end up adding HD DVD support?

[shelbygt33]

uh, yeah, like really long time ago.

[Transformer]

first step for Microsoft next the 360 will have thus more money for Sony.

1 more thing haha.

[jack who]

"Who needs HD-DVD or Blu-ray? Not Microsoft. The news is that Lite-On is apparently aiming to ship five million DVD drives for the Xbox 360 in the third quarter of this very year.

Digitimes reports that "Microsoft has asked Lite-On to get ready to meet possible increased orders for Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drives..."

So, does this put one more nail in the coffin containing 'news' of a Blu-ray add-on for the 360?"

[xboxlover]

"Microsoft has asked Lite-On to get ready to meet possible increased orders for Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drives..."

I am a hardcore 360 fan, and this only brings 2 things to mind. Massive DVD drive failures, and they will let us replace them.

Just saying

[QuizPyro]

ohh my god lolz i guess ms is resulting to having to use blu-ray hahahahahaha ms=fail

[Zerodin]

Hey f@ggotor, what's the worlds most used operating systems? Windows.
Who makes Windows? MS.
You = pwnd.

[LoVeRSaMa]

@Zerodin

2 things wrong with that statment.

1) "f@ggotor" un needed.
2) "what's the worlds most used operating systems" not exactly, Design wise people tend to go for Mac, and Server wise plus website hosting mainly is Linux, Windows isnt that far infront tbh.

Please post usefull things =]

[XxZxX]

wassup with the xbot's self proclaimed pwned, some weak statement and they think they actually pwned anybody they want. XBOT got low standard. You cant pwned someone when majority of people disagree with you. But the only thing you can do is pwning yourself, just like what you just did.

[Cajun Chicken]

Don't people like owning real, physical media?
You know, so you can have them on a shelf or trade them, lend them to friends, feel you actually own something of value?

I do.

DD will NEVER take over. Its a fact.
Not for a *LONG* time anyway.

EDIT: Damn, I created a universal paradox.

[Breakfast]

You just killed your 'fact'.

:)

[Covenant]

Dammit...between your user names and avatars, you're making me HUNGRY!

[mirroredderorrim]

If it isn't bandwidth that will hinder digital downloads, it will be DRM. There is alot in the way of "D.D" and many hurdles that need to be climbed before this can be the future. For now, Blu-Ray is here, embrace it or move on.

[jessupj]

Well said mirror. I wish people would just get over DD and realise it isn't the future. I have no idea why they are so fanaticle about it.

[killtheaquitted]

That's exactly what people said about music CDs. When is the last time you bought one of those? Thought so.

[lsujester]

About two days ago, actually.

And DD can take over when you find a distribution method similar to music and when the majority of people have high bandwidth. Right now, neither of those doesn't exist.

[BrunoM]

people like me for once want to own there stuff i want my movies here at home with me if i want to buy one i go out and buy one .. but yeah who didnt see these coming MS adding blue ray to its machines ... even if in the gaming part they say no need for blue ray
due to the fact that MS is BIG they show in the other aras of MS that blue ray is needed .. but what ever let them say what they like ,,,

[jspc1989]

of course it was going to happen. Sony doesnt own blu-ray as they only co-produce it.

And Sony and microsoft are workng together in other projects too....

http://technology.timesonli...

that article proves that in one sense the two companies know that working with each other is beneficial. Theyre only in direct competition in the console market, which is just one section of each industry. Its only the fanboys who think that sony and microsoft hate each other as much as they do lol.

[ukilnme]

You got 3 disagrees for pointing out that MS and Sony partner together on other things. Fanboys never fail to amaze me.

[DJ]

With IBM to create the main component of Playstation 3. The whole "Sony and Toshiba duke it out" articles were poorly researched and lame in general.

[psycho360]

Good point jspc had there been no consoles from MS these sony lovers would not be crying foul for anything MS. Most of them were not even born when Sony started notebooks with Windows. If these two companies can get along together in so many ways then whats the problem with these immature fans from both sides.

[SmokingMonkey]

i will always buy a disc over virtual memory
i did with Warhawk and i will with Socom and LBP
(is LBP going DD on PSN?)

[Snake Raiser]

lbp is too big for psn
I go with disks too.

[Snake Raiser]

lol ing

[Kyur4ThePain]

The day Blu-Ray won over HD-DVD, this became a no-brainer.

[DiLeCtioN]

havent they sold more PC than 360s correct me if am wrong. if they can bring blu-ray to PC surely xbox must be next...guess rumours are still rumours

nice feature anyway but looks like some fanboys are and some arent pleased

[M337ING]

No duh?

More PCs are sold each month than the 360 will sell in its lifetime...

[Kyur4ThePain]

They've sold waaaaaaay more 360's than PCs.
Guess how many PCs they've sold. ;)

[Mao]

We all knew this was coming the second HD-DVD went under. Blu-Ray is the new standard moving forward.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

Microsoft wants Blu-ray, Microsoft NEEDS blu-ray, and they know that.

[thehitman]

So doesnt this mean ppl can burn blue rays now?? Shouldnt Sony be mad at this instead of happy? You going to start seeing pirated blue ray disc.

[Bladestar]

You people are that dumb... we are talking about PC... duhhh it eventually have to support all standardized formats... and stop with the whole "but digital distribution is the future.. so why is microsoft supporting it.." are you saying digital distribution don't exist in computer? is being a while since a large amount of people consume digitally distributed content on the PC... from games, movies and music... and PC always support physical media... hell I can still buy a CD player for my PC... 1.44 floppy drives... etc... it's a freaken OS geniuses... even if a format has a small user base it should be supported by the OS... there is no reason not to as long as some hardware manufacturer make it and make the drivers...
this is what made windows what it's is today... microsoft has no benefit on blocking their os from supporting blu-ray...
I mean sure as hell I will not buy a blu-ray player for a PC... until the players and the blank blu-ray discs are extremely comfortable (like DVDs) which will take a while... but I welcome the support for those that would.

[Draperc]

I knew it would happen sooner or later, and btw, wtf is up with you zerodin? You were one of the people who said "bloo ray" (or bloo gay as I've seen some people call it.) wasn't needed, and yet here you are saying it'll make big bucks for MS as if they made it or something. freaking hypocrite.

[Greedy Genius]

wouldn't sony profit from this?

[Mikey Mike]

for Blu Ray on Windows. Too bad other companies beat them to the punch!!!!

[Mausenheimmer]

Once you get into computers, Sony and MS bury the hatchet fast. The Vaio uses XP and Vista so why wouldn't Microsoft support blu-ray burning?

[XxZxX]

forced into support windows. Definately

[psycho360]

LOL @ idiots

The companies which want their products supported in the worlds largest selling OS will pay for their products support not the other way round. Sony/BD Consortium must have offered MS to support their product. However if MS wants to include BD in any of their hardware products then they need to pay these guys.

At the most the BDs are going to be in used in Windows as storage medium or playing movies. NOthing to do with games or installing software. Just last 1-2 years have DVD games have started becoming mainstream and how long back was DVD introduced?

[psycho360]

Unlike you single console owner n00bs MS is not petty when it comes to building support for any format under the sun in order to maxamise its sales. Thats how the reached number one software company in the world. Think of life outside your beloved consoles unless you're 12 year old with no practical experience in life. The only competition between MS and SOny is in the console wars rest of the time they are bossom buddies.

[Tacticity]

When this comes to PC Sony will get allot % from the profit.

[user9422077]

DOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I kissed a girl and I farted.

Ok my rant has finished.

[AIi_The_Brit]

thats right, acknowledge the best media disk

[JohnCarpenter]

Maybe M$ is trying to support piracy on Sonys PS3 games ;-)

[betag]

Reading user's comments on this site, mainly Xbots Fanboys, denouncing Blu-Ray's success today and its benefit for PS3 games simply because we are nearing total DD for all media is incomprehensible. In fact, if these fanboys praise DD so much, then it's more the reason to love PSN today because you can download full PS3 games, such as Warhawk, Siren, GT5 Prologue and soon SOCOM: Confrontation.

Then again, aren't these the same people who argue that long download time and software installation taking massive storage space are annoying. People complain about 5GB installation times, but they are okay with 40 GB installation times in the future. I remember prior to Warhawk's release people were saying "I rather have the physical disk."

As of the present, I'm very happy with Sony's decision to go with Blu Ray. I'm sure Sony has thought about DD - as evident by the aforementioned games, but they knew that Blu Ray is the right choice for gamers this generation and maybe next.

[jerethdagryphon]

never thought id have to agree with you but your correct
consider all the legecy drivers still in xp and vista
tape drives zip jazz....
as for keeping physical media
you tell some company your gonna backup there entire server and store online for them to retrieve thell say theres the door

physical media= security well taken care of lasts

i had to dig into my archives for a backup of some stuff i had on my pc

glad i had them

[Toixer]

Well, finally another life-sign of blu-ray on pc. I hope discs and recorders get cheaper soon, cause at the moment it is cheaper just to buy another hard drive instead. DVDs have become too small for my personal need anyway.

[StrboyM]

some of you people kill me....

yes M$ has the most used operating system in the world, but now they must use a direct competitor (in one market) now want to, "MUST". if not they risk falling behind in that area, sony was gonna make money from blu ray period, this is just more money for them. if anyone thinks M$ isnt using a few four letter words over this decision your a "four letter word"

[jspc1989]

sure who disagreed with my last comment but would whoever it was be manly (or womanly) enough to come forward and tel me why? i wasn't aware i stated anything that wasn't true?? If i did i am more than willing to accept it lol.

[Phoenix17]

wow thats the first time i seen a lot of deleted by mod comments on here
well i kind of expected something like this once the word blu-ray & Windows in the same sentence lol royalties FTW!!!!!! nah jk XP

[foodbox]

So, not that I'd ever want to, but if i wanted to watch bluray movies, I'd simply stream them via Windows Media Center to my Xbox 360 via Windows Media Center Extender.

http://www1.pricewatch.com/...

Frankly, bluray is still-born anyway. The market isnt going to embrace Sony's DRM infested garbage-format.

Digital Download FTW.

[Breakfast]

h

[jerethdagryphon]

foodbox digital downloads are only any use in 1st world enviroments where peple can afford high end internet required to have them

that said there will be so much drm on them it will be very hard to make them popular

noone wants a game /film/song
thats hardware tethered but to prevent piracy thats what theyd have to do similar to xp activation but they can make it much harder to crack

so you wont be able to takeit on an mp3 player or anything because thats piracy mS would like you to pay for each device you intend to use it on

strboym
as for most used os
its only most used pre vista
and even then only on consumers machines
most major companys use linux or macs these days
in fact when offered a discount to upgrade to vista many turned it down in favor of staying with xp or more commanly switching to linux solaris or macs

ms was king in the 80s 90s but there house of card is slowlg coming down

[user9422077]

can't wait