Vista and DRM

[GoodKingJayIII]

So my g/f's computer just died and we're looking to get her another one. She's resisting Vista, but a) there aren't many computers out there that still ship with XP and b) she hates Macs. So her options are limited.

But what I really wanted to ask about is Vista and the DRM software/hardware. I really don't know too much about how it works. Does anyone have any useful articles that can explain the OS and its relation to DRM in layman's terms? Or maybe someone here could explain it?

I don't want to say what I think I know for fear of looking like an idiot, but my basic understanding is that there's a kind of digital rights vs. privacy issue going on, and Vista is at the core in some way. Or maybe I've managed to make myself look like an idiot anyway, and that's totally incorrect.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Pyrex]

The big DRM issue with Vista right now (well, the only signifiant one that didn't exist in XP anyway...) is the concept of the Protected Video Path (which is what is required for Digital Cable Tuners).

There's additional code in the OS (and in the bios of Vista-ready PC's) that allow content providers to lock-down what resolutions and what types of outputs that particular piece of content can be displayed across.

Example: If you buy a Vista PC with a HD-DVD drive, the only way to get 1080i/p output (IIRC) is across the DRM-protected HDMI output; the system simply won't output a 1080 HD-DVD signal over any other output due to overblown fears of piracy.

This also means that the only way to watch HD-DVD's (or Blu-Ray discs for that matter) in Hi Def on a Vista machine is to:
Buy an approved Vista PC with the approved Bios & Motherboard
Install an approved Video Card with the correct DRM goo on board
Install an approved HD(or BD) drive
Run approved playback software (amusingly enough *not* Windows Media Player)
Connect your system to an HDMI-compliant display device.

Any failure in *any* of those components (all provided by different companies) and you're borked. Pop in your shiny HiDef disk and get an error message that your a dirty, dirty pirate and have been a bad, bad, boy and you aren't allowed to watch your movie.

While this does present it's own problems, on XP you can't watch HD(|| BD) movies in HD at all; so *shrug*.

 

[Thanee]

So my g/f's computer just died and we're looking to get her another one. She's resisting Vista, but a) there aren't many computers out there that still ship with XP and b) she hates Macs. So her options are limited.

Well, I suppose you already own XP (from the old computer), so just buy one and install XP on it. Or just buy an XP in addition to the computer, if you really don't get one without Vista (which I find kinda hard to believe, actually, it can't be impossible to find that).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pyrex]

...She's resisting Vista...So her options are limited.

Given that you're buying a new PC instead of upgrading an old one, what's the issue with Vista?

Sure, it requires more system power than XP, but (generally speaking) new PC's shipping with Vista are plenty up to the task...

 

[azhrei_fje]

Technically, the XP that came with the previous computer is licensed ONLY for that computer. (Well, most likely anyway.) However, I've never let that stop me.

Concerning looking for something other than Vista, perhaps she shouldn't reject the Mac so out-of-hand. My wife wasn't too impressed with Macs either until I got my MacBook Pro. Tonight she visited Apple's web site to price out a Mac Mini that she saw an ad for. (But we're not getting one, as I've told her. For what she'll do with it, Windows is just fine and we won't need to re-purchase Adobe and other products.)

Concerning the DRM in Vista, I just saw an article within the last week about network performance issues during the playback of video and/or audio content. From my reading of the article, Microsoft seemed to be saying that a 5:1 slowdown on the NIC wasn't a problem, because users won't be playing a video and using the network at the same time anyway (wtf!?).

Personally, I will no longer (for Vista or later) provide support services for friends and family. That means they can (a) stick with XP, (b) use Mac OS X, or (c) let me install Linux for them. Most choose (a), although my 78-year-old mother chose (c)! And since my mother only uses the machine for simple word procesing, email, and web surfing she'll never know the difference. And I don't have to fix virus-related problems all the time either.

 

[John Crichton]

Are you planning on watching HD content on it? If not, no worries. Been using a Vista system since March with little incident beyond the usual early snafoos and user error.

 

[Thanee]

Technically, the XP that came with the previous computer is licensed ONLY for that computer. (Well, most likely anyway.) However, I've never let that stop me.

Right, I always forget that it's different in other countries. Here, some parts of Microsoft's EULA (like binding the software to specific hardware) are not legal and do not apply.

Bye
Thanee

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

(which I find kinda hard to believe, actually, it can't be impossible to find that).

Not impossible, but more difficult. Dell seems to only offer a few specific models with XP, and HP offers none. Those are the two computers we're looking at mainly because I get a discount on those.

Are you planning on watching HD content on it? If not, no worries. Been using a Vista system since March with little incident beyond the usual early snafoos and user error.

Nope, I doubt she'll be doing any HD stuff on the computer, but that's good to know.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[Thanee]

Those are the two computers we're looking at mainly because I get a discount on those.

Makes sense.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ferret]

Given that you're buying a new PC instead of upgrading an old one, what's the issue with Vista?

Sure, it requires more system power than XP, but (generally speaking) new PC's shipping with Vista are plenty up to the task...

I've found my vista to do the job just as well if not better than XP. And it plays videos fine, although I don't know anything about this DRM business