Well, fuck you too, Microsoft!

Comments

• WORF The Burninator

  January 2006

  I won't be getting it either then.
  
  Worf
• Eclecticonaut Elite Ranger

  January 2006

  I fail to see the problem here. LiteON SOHD-16P9S, the best DVD drive (after Plextor PX-130A) on the market costs $20...
• Biggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>

  January 2006

  It's not the age that's the problem. It's whether the drive is RPC-1 or not. Basically, Vista will not accept region free drives for playing region-coded movies. I happen to have an older DVD drive and a recent DVD writer, so I'm not worried about age. My concern is not being able to watch my DVDs. And before someone says "just buy a standalone DVD player for $20," that isn't quite as good an option when you also need a TV costing hundreds of dollers to go with it plus a new house that has space for both a TV and a computer.
• Eclecticonaut Elite Ranger

  January 2006

  [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
  [B]Basically, Vista will not accept region free drives for playing region-coded movies.[/B][/QUOTE]
  ...without an additional, third party software?
• Biggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>

  January 2006

  Well, it's hard to say if current 3rd party software that does the job will be possible in Vista. Also, that software all costs (I have never come across a free piece of software to do it in Windows, despite much searching). There are players which ignore hardware region coding for windows, namely VLC and mplayer, but compared with PowerDVD and WinDVD they suck. For someone who watches as many DVDs on a computer as me, decent software is important. The current method of using my hardware the way I want to is certainly the preferred option.
• JackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>

  January 2006

  I refuse to use a product from a company that will tell me how and what I can do with my personal property.
  
  XP is the last of the Windows versions I will ever use.
  
  God help me if we never get a Linux version of Lightwave and Photoshop I guess...
  
  :rolleyes:
• Biggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>

  January 2006

  Chances are actually fairly good for a linux version of photoshop. Adobe hired a linux expert about a year and a half ago. We've already seen a linux native version of the latest Acrobat Reader (the previous version was ancient).
• Vertigo_1 Ranger

  January 2006

  What's the problem here?
  
  Since all DVD drives manufactured after 2000 have hardware region enforcement, your "recent" DVD writer should play DVD video just fine.
  
  Those of you touting Linux as an alternative should know that, if your country has legislation similar to the DMCA, using the popular libdvdcss2 to decode your CSS encrypted movies is actually illegal. To decode CSS content, you're [i]supposed[/i] to have paid for a Macrovision license.
  
  The system is broken. Don't point fingers at companies like Microsoft that are hamstrung by this fact, point fingers at the RIAA and the MPAA with their heads in the sand and point fingers at the stupid legislation they've forced through. It's kind of silly when you have to commit a crime to watch your legally purchased movies on your own computer running a legal, open-source OS.
  
  Edit:
  Never mind - looks like I didn't notice the first post :rolleyes:
  
  My advice? If you someday find that Vista is an inevitability, rip everything that's not in your native region code to high-quality DivX. But then you're breaking anti-circumvention laws that Finland may or may not have to exercise fair-use format-shifting rights that your country may or may not have. Oh the tangled web we weave when we legislate...
• E.T Quote-o-matic

  January 2006

  [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Eclecticonaut [/i]
  [B]...without an additional, third party software? [/B][/QUOTE]Just wait and they force people to use their Orwellian Computing and you won't be using anything they don't accept.
• Biggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>

  January 2006

  [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Vertigo_1 [/i]
  [B]My advice? If you someday find that Vista is an inevitability, rip everything that's not in your native region code to high-quality DivX. But then you're breaking anti-circumvention laws that Finland may or may not have to exercise fair-use format-shifting rights that your country may or may not have. Oh the tangled web we weave when we legislate... [/B][/QUOTE]
  
  Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on upgrading to Vista until I absolutely have to. When I do it'll be going on an entirely new computer and the XP one will be hanging around to watch DVDs on.
  
  As for anti-circumvention laws: NZ not only doesn't have anything like the DMCA, but region coding is actually illegal here (and in Australia) - it's considered anti-competitive because it restricts what the consumer can do with something they've legally bought. If you buy a stand alone DVD player here, you get a little slip of paper with it that tells you how to set your player to region free so you don't even have to go and look it up on the net.
• JackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>

  January 2006

  [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
  [B]... but region coding is actually illegal here (and in Australia) - it's considered anti-competitive because it restricts what the consumer can do with something they've legally bought... [/B][/QUOTE]
  
  Couldn't have said it better myself...
  
  ;)