When the retail version of Windows 8
was released back in October last year, it brought a lot of improvements over
all the earlier versions, despite the fact that a lot of people didn’t seem
very happy with it. The new Modern UI, along with its ability to launch apps
much faster, the improved copy/move dialog box, the new task manager with a
plethora of new options, and the Charms bar, for instance, are just some
examples to name, among many others. However, not all features (or lack
thereof) could really be considered as improvements. I can understand the
grudge that some people hold against Microsoft for taking away the Start menu
to be a matter of personal preference, but some changes were downright
limiting, the top of which turns out to be the operating system’s native
inability to play DVD & Blu-ray discs.
A few weeks back, we brought to you a guide
on how to play DVD movies and discs on
Windows 8, whereby having a few real good options that were free,
too. As it turns out, playing Blu-ray discs isn’t much different, either. Of
course, the OS lacks this ability out of the box, but there are certain
measures that you can take to make that happen. Some commercial tools are
pretty powerful that allow you to do that, while other freeware, open source
apps also exist that will do the same without making your pockets lighter.
Before you move on to play Blu-ray discs on
your Windows 8 machine, you also need to take into account the hardware
limitations that you might come across. Foremost, you need to have a Blu-ray
drive in your PC or notebook that will take care of the hardware part.
Traditionally, laptops and desktop computers don’t ship with a Blu-ray drive
(unless you go for a high-end purchase), so you’ll probably need a separate
drive for that. Then comes the software part.
The software options include Cyberlink’s
renowned PowerDVD, which will cost you something around $50 for a personal
license. The application is powerful and capable, but is generally resource
intensive and, well, commercial. For a free solution, you may try out VLC Media
Player or Media Player Classic. Both are powerful, customisable and
feature-laden (not to mention free), but may require some setting up.
Nevertheless, you have a capable free alternative. It’s worth keeping in mind
that VLC will only with unencrypted Blu-ray discs only. Whereas Media Player
Classic requires a little bit of setting up before the rubber meets the road,
which includes downloading the correct codecs etc.
Last but not the least, Nero 12 is
also a good option to fulfill your Blu-ray playback needs. It’s extremely
feature rich and offers users tons of options to choose from. But it will set
you back $99, which is not easy on the wallet. But for the features it is
offering, it is definitely worth the shot.
It should also be noted that if you
bought a PC that came with Windows, it may include some media playback software
(which we usually regard as bloatware) that you may also use. Furthermore, if
you had to purchase a third-party external Blu-ray drive, it, too, would most
like have come with a playback tool, so make sure you check out the
accompanying media before you go for any such solution.
To wrap it up, the paid options listed above
are the best if you want to play Blu-ray movies on your PC without any sort of
hassle. If you’re the sort of user/geek who always get their way around
obstacles, then you can simply give the free options a shot.
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happening in the ever changing world of technology
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