No high-def in 32-bit Vista, thanks to DRM

The 32-bit-compatible version of Vista, the next version of Windows, won't play back high-def video because they can't get the DRM right. However, it will play back high-def video if, instead of buying HD DVDs, you just download copies of them off the Internet -- talk about a perverse incentive.

"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.

Link (via /.)

Update: An anonymous Microsoft employee sez

Media Player won't play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, but you'll still be able to play them (on XP, even) with third-party programs like WinDVD and PowerDVD, in full HD.

Why? Because the media companies are willing to certify WinDVD and PowerDVD, but they won't certify Windows, basically for the reasons described. The other problem is indemnity - Microsoft has much deeper pockets and the risks of someone hacking Windows and getting the Microsoft keys is too high; Microsoft's payouts to the studios would be enormous. The DRM contracts essentially say that you forfeit all money lost to the studios if your key is hacked. The money "lost" to the studios is of course calculated using the estimate most favorable to the studios - i.e. every copy downloaded off LimeWire is a full-price loss. Intervideo (WinDVD) and Cyberlink (PowerDVD) are small companies and figure they're not the largest targets, or they'll just go bankrupt and start again as a new company. Cyberlink is based in Asia, and suing them would be pricey.

The screwball thing about all this is that essentially the same risks of hacked drivers and whatnot exist with PowerDVD and WinDVD; there's no good reason for the studios to certify them if they really are worried about people using the PC to copy movies. This leads folks at Microsoft to conclude either:

A) The studios don't understand the technology enough to see these risks clearly, or

B) They just want to screw Microsoft

The studios all have tech consultants, and many of them are not fools, so A seems unlikely. B also doesn't seem completely likely. It's probably the usual: human stupidity rolled up in a big ball.