Windows 8: Clarifying Codecs, Compiling, And Compatibility

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Kodiack

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Would be nice to have BRD support in Windows by default. Third-party Blu-ray playback software is atrocious.
 

amoralman

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Not only will none of your traditional Windows applications run on the Windows RT Desktop, but only Microsoft applications will run on the Windows RT Desktop. No third-party apps allowed. No Chrome, no Firefox, no VLC, no WinAmp. Nothing that doesn't come from Microsoft, period.

Wow! And to think I was finally going to get myself a tablet! Was waiting for Surface exactly for that reason, using my loved apps on an ultra portable computer.

Oh well, let's wait and see if they remove this limitation in Windows RT+
 

adgjlsfhk

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only Microsoft applications will run on the Windows RT Desktop. No third-party apps allowed. No Chrome, no Firefox, no VLC, no WinAmp. Nothing that doesn't come from Microsoft, period.

Seems like this has to be illegal.
 

Marcus52

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[citation][nom]adgjlsfhk[/nom]Seems like this has to be illegal.[/citation]

It might well be judged illegal; certainly I think Microsoft is in danger of getting a fine from the European community, judging from past rulings.

What about Apple? Don't you have to buy apps through their store for their portable devices? Don't they tightly control who can create an app? Seems to me that Microsoft might just be following in the footsteps of Apple here - but it also seems to me that Windows 8 RT is a real operating system, while iOS is more of a device manager, and there is a difference. Whether or not that translates to a legal difference, I don't know.

Not being able to use Firefox on the Surface seems like an extraordinary limitation, whatever the case. I'm not sure that would be a deal-breaker - but I'm not in the market for something in between the size of a full-size notebook and a smart phone anyway, so it's just discussion in my case.
 

merikafyeah

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Decrypting aside, isn't Blu-ray just standard H.264 (or VC-1) wrapped in an MPEG-2 transport stream? Both Windows 7 and 8 should have built-in H.264 decoding and VC-1 is from Microsoft so that comes without saying. The only thing missing seems to be the splitter or stream parser, but none of that really matters at all since Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC) is free and contains all the splitters and decoders you need to play DVDs and Blu-rays built-in (and it's only 5 MB).

But it's sad how Windows 7 has a built-in DTV-DVD decoder while Windows 8 does not.
 

kyuuketsuki

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[citation][nom]amoralman[/nom]Wow! And to think I was finally going to get myself a tablet! Was waiting for Surface exactly for that reason, using my loved apps on an ultra portable computer.Oh well, let's wait and see if they remove this limitation in Windows RT+[/citation]Then you're waiting for a Surface Pro (or you can just buy one of the x86-based Win8 tablets already on the market). WinRT does not run legacy apps. Legacy apps cannot run on an ARM-based machine regardless.
 
START SCREEN APPS:

Only allow Microsoft apps PERIOD?

A few points:
a) You can add/remove a SHORTCUT to any application easily

b) the NETFLIX app I have seems to work like the Microsoft ones
(the "START SCREEN" apps when launched do not take you to the normal Desktop. To close them you DRAG your finger/cursor from top to bottom of the screen.)
 

Estix

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[citation][nom]merikafyeah[/nom]Decrypting aside, isn't Blu-ray just standard H.264 (or VC-1) wrapped in an MPEG-2 transport stream?[/citation]

In terms of software? Yes. In legal terms? It's also wrapped in a licensing fee.

Basically, Microsoft (reasonably, in my opinion) doesn't want to pay to license an optical disc technology for an OS that will (let's be honest here) be primarily used on devices with no optical drive.

As long as they pass the savings along, I'm fine with this.
 
[citation][nom]amoralman[/nom]Wow! And to think I was finally going to get myself a tablet! Was waiting for Surface exactly for that reason, using my loved apps on an ultra portable computer.Oh well, let's wait and see if they remove this limitation in Windows RT+[/citation]
You kind of miss the point. The desktop is for legacy software, and Win RT has no legacy software. It's pretty much only there to be consistent with x86 versions of Win 8. All software developed for Win RT, outside of MS, will use the new new Win 8 interface.
 
[citation][nom]adgjlsfhk[/nom]Seems like this has to be illegal.[/citation]
They aren't preventing Chrome, FireFox or any other app from being on Win RT, they are preventing the use of the desktop. All these apps will exist with the new Metro style UI.
 

Bloob

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While I kinda guessed that native apps would have to be compiled seperately ( don't know how else they'd work ), it is not like it's a huge thing to recompile a project.
 

Th-z

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Not sure why people keep using the word "legacy" on desktop programs, the ability to view and use multiple programs at once, plus the info on desktop (if any) and system notifications, dynamic resizing, full screen or windowed, depending on screen size, user needs, and workflow are nothing "legacy" about. If any, those full-screen only apps are more "legacy" on desktop and laptop computers. It seems way too many are drinking Microsoft's Windows 8 koolaid.

But I predict if those desktop programs/apps get their own nice looking live tile "shortcuts" that update info to show in Start Screen instead of icons that Microsoft makes them so out of place in there right now, people will quick to change their opinions.
 
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My only comment to this whole mess is that it will just confuse many users about how to play DVD's and why Microsoft offers a player like Windows Media player that comes in Windows 8 without the ability to play a lot of media? In fact I am not sure why Microsoft is pushing Windows 8 "Pro" onto users when in fact its not very "Pro" at all. Just more mess brought on by Microsoft being too cheap to include the codec's within Windows 8.
 

ravinmachine

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What a shmozle Windows 8 is. Less actual abilities all for what? So you can play angry birds on a widescreen monitor and shave a few seconds of start up? lol
 

manicmike

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The word "Legacy" refers to older programs not designed specifically for this OS. MS Office 2010 is technically a Legacy program because it was designed around Win7 primarily, although it works on Vista and I believe XP (though I haven't tested, my XP machine still runs MS Office 2003 and is primarily used when I need to debug/repair a client's PATA HDD), while MS Office 2013 is designed for Win8.

Put simply the Xbox is a Legacy Console because there is a replacement available, namely the Xbox 360. Legacy just refers to Hardware/Software designed for previous generations of tech.
 

Achoo22

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[citation][nom]Marcus52[/nom]seems to me that Windows 8 RT is a real operating system, while iOS is more of a device manager[/citation]
Seems to me that you're clueless, since iOS very much has a UNIX-like core. The same is true for nearly all tablets and nearly all smartphones. Where do you think the term "rooted" comes from?

 

gnodeb

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Well, all this is just common sense with a lot of details. All desktop apps are x86, they won't work on ARM platform. ARM tablet is the only reason to have WinRT instead of WinPro. If you are targeting WinRT, that means ARM, small/touch screen.. it make zero sense to make an desktop app. You should use ModernUI and that will work on WinPro too. If you have x86 cpu you will have WinPro and all x86 app will work.

I don't know anybody who is using MediaCentar or MediaPlayer as a DVD/BR player. They simply killed feature nobody is using... Aslo, online content is what they see as a future... you can still use free software if you need it...
 

Th-z

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[citation][nom]manicmike[/nom]The word "Legacy" refers to older programs not designed specifically for this OS. MS Office 2010 is technically a Legacy program because it was designed around Win7 primarily, although it works on Vista and I believe XP (though I haven't tested, my XP machine still runs MS Office 2003 and is primarily used when I need to debug/repair a client's PATA HDD), while MS Office 2013 is designed for Win8.Put simply the Xbox is a Legacy Console because there is a replacement available, namely the Xbox 360. Legacy just refers to Hardware/Software designed for previous generations of tech.[/citation]

When Microsoft refers to legacy software in this context about Windows 8 (as in this article), they are not talking about the examples you used, but software in general that associates with desktop UI paradigm. That's why "legacy" and "traditional" are used interchangeably in this article.
 
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