Microsoft May Support Blu-ray in Vista After All

[Marwin]

Microsoft May Support Blu-ray in Vista After All

Internal Microsoft documentation states that the software giant is set to make a surprising addition to the Windows Vista code tree on February 22, about a week after the company is expected to ship a feature complete version of the OS to testers. On that day, the company will apparently add "Blu-Ray DVD support" to the OS, according to the documentation I've seen.

There's just one problem: The software giant denies it will support Blu-Ray.

"There are still no plans for any development work on [Blu-Ray] from Microsoft," a company spokesperson told me on Wednesday. "Since Windows is a platform, they expect companies to provide [Blu-Ray] solutions for Windows Vista." The company pointed me to work that Cyberlink is doing with its XP-based Blu-Ray video editing, playback and disc burning solution as an example of the type of third party products it expects to see for Windows Vista as well.

Coincidentally, Microsoft publicly denounced any chance of it including native Blu-Ray support in Windows Vista on Wednesday. Noting that it had "absolutely no plans" to support Blu-Ray, Microsoft said it "firmly stands behind the HD-DVD format as the best choice for our consumers."

According to the internal documentation I've seen, Blu-Ray DVD support was initially set for inclusion in late January Vista builds, but was pushed back to late February. This week, Microsoft neared completion of the feature complete Vista build it will split off as the February Community Technical Preview (CTP) build that testers will receive next. That build will include such new features as Windows Sidebar, various antimalware technologies, and a Remote Desktop feature that supports Aero Glass with no performance penalty, among many others. To date, almost 60 different development teams at Microsoft have submitted code for the feature complete Windows Vista build.