Microsoft to support all DVD formats

Microsoft today announced that it will provide built-in operating system support for all major writable DVD formats in future versions of the Windows desktop operating system.

This support will include DVD-RAM, DVD-RW/-R and DVD+RW/+R formats.

Comprehensive support for writable DVD formats adds to support Microsoft already announced for the DVD+MRW (Mt. Rainier) format as well as support available for the DVD-RAM format in Microsoft® Windows XP.

“We are committed to making it as easy as possible for our customers to write to and play DVDs on their PCs,” said Tom Phillips, general manager of the Windows Hardware Experience Group at Microsoft Corp. “With support for all the major writable DVD formats, users will find it much easier, less costly and more efficient to back up personal data, transfer files between PCs and share personally edited video on DVD-Video.”

The support will enable users with a compatible drive to work with any of their existing writeable DVDs used as a data storage medium. Users will not need to download any additional drivers to ensure compatibility with their DVDs.

Microsoft has included built-in support for DVD devices in Windows operating systems since Windows 98, with driver support under the Windows Driver Model. All Windows versions up to and including Windows XP and Windows Server (TM) 2003 support DVD-Video playback together with third-party MPEG-2 decoders and DVD-RAM as an optical media storage device. Microsoft announced plans to support DVD+MRW in future versions of Windows at WinHEC 2002. More information about Microsoft’s DVD support can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/stream/DVD/DVDRW_support.mspx.