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Microsoft revealed today that no 32-bit versions of Windows Vista will be able to play back “next generation high definition protected content” (translation – studio-released BluRay and HD-DVD movies).

By far the majority of PCs use 32-bit processors, because despite AMD’s efforts to push 64-bit CPUs into the marketplace early, Intel’s first widely-promoted 64-bit CPU is the just-released Core 2 Duo.

PC users will now have to choose between a PC that can play high definition content (64 bit) versus one that can potentially run older devices that only have unsigned drivers available (32 bit).

“Signed drivers” are ones that have undergone a Microsoft quality-assurance process and received a digital certificate that certifies them as stable for installation on 64-bit Windows.

Microsoft’s move to drop support for playback of studio-released HD movies on Vista is likely to anger the large number of people who were hoping they could use their existing 32-bit PC with an upgrade version of Vista.

The surprising disclosure was made by Senior Program Manager Steve Riley during a presentation on Windows Vista security at Tech.Ed 2006 Sydney today.

“Any next-generation high definition content will not play in x32 at all,” said Riley.



“This is a decision that the Media Player folks made because there are just too many ways right now for unsigned kernel mode code [to compromise content protection]. The media companies asked us to do this and said they don’t want any of their high definition content to play in x32 at all, because of all of the unsigned malware that runs in kernel mode can get around content protection, so we had to do this,” he said.

Riley then attempted to pre-empt audience concerns over the newly imposed limitation by asking how many of the Tech.Ed attendees currently played high-definition movies at home.

“How many of you have a DVD player that you know can output a proper 1080 line non-interlaced?”

No-one raised their hands.

“OK… look around. By the time that stuff becomes popular, it’ll no longer be an issue because everyone will be running 64-bit Windows,” he said.



However, earlier in his presentation, Riley had explained why Microsoft had decided to let unsigned code run in 32-bit Windows, but not in 64-bit Windows.

“Imagine how difficult it would be for you [the Tech.Ed attendees] to update your environment. It would be a non-starter, right?”

“We can’t do that [lock out unsigned drivers from 32 bit Windows]. The app-compat hit, as we say in Microsoft, would be far too great if we did it in 32-bit Vista.”



In an interview hastily organised by Microsoft public relations staff after they learned APC was planning to run this story, Riley was at pains to point out that Blu Ray and HD-DVD were storage media and “you could put an MPEG-4 movie on them and play them on a 32bit Vista PC just fine.”

But he conceded that a commercially-produced BluRay or HD-DVD movie with next-generation high definition protected content wouldn’t play on a 32 bit PC.

... because of all of the unsigned malware that runs in kernel mode can get around content protection, so we had to do this,” he said.

weemadando wrote:Sooo... This would mean that I couldn't say, use fucking video card drivers (even manufacturer ones) under Vista 64-bit? Because that shit is sure as hell never "signed"...

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I didn't know there even was a 32 bit version of Vista. I thought the whole point of introducing 64 bit processors years in advance and then not supporting XP-64 was to make the transition in Vista. It's not like any OEM machines will still have a 64-bit processor with Pentium D's at $90, and it's not like any significant number of people with 32-bits will migrate to Vista on their own.

Vista to support HD DVD, Blu-ray after all?
August 24, 2006 4:06 PM PDT

Microsoft surprised more than a few people on Thursday when one of its developers told a technical crowd in Australia that 32-bit versions of Windows Vista won't be able to play back next-generation high-definition protected content, i.e. commercial Blu-ray and HD DVD discs.

Later Thursday, representatives in the U.S. said that senior program manager Steve Riley was mistaken.

"The information he provided to that audience was incorrect," a representative told CNET News.com. "Playback is possible with Windows Vista in 32-bit."

The decision of whether to offer that support, the representative said, won't be made by Microsoft but rather by the third-party software makers that create DVD playback software, folks like CyberLink and InterVideo.

"It is up to the ISVs providing playback solutions to determine whether the intended playback environment, including environments with a 32-bit CPU, meets the performance requirements to allow high-definition playback while supporting the guidelines set forth by the content owners," Microsoft PR manager Adam Anderson said in a statement. "No version of Windows Vista will make a determination as to whether any given piece of content should play back or not."