According to APC Magazine, Microsoft have cut out the ability to play HDCP content (blu-ray & HD-DVD) on 32 bit versions of Vista.By far the majority of PCs use 32-bit processors, because despite AMD's efforts to push 64-bit CPUs into the marketplace early, Intel's first widely-promoted 64-bit CPU is the just-released Core 2 Duo.PC users will now have to choose between a PC that can play high definition content (64 bit) versus one that can potentially run older devices that only have unsigned drivers available (32 bit)."Signed drivers" are ones that have undergone a Microsoft quality-assurance process and received a digital certificate that certifies them as stable for installation on 64-bit Windows.Microsoft's move to drop support for playback of studio-released HD movies on Vista is likely to anger the large number of people who were hoping they could use their existing 32-bit PC with an upgrade version of Vista.The surprising disclosure was made by Senior Program Manager Steve Riley during a presentation on Windows Vista security at Tech.Ed 2006 Sydney today. View: APC Magazine Story Read full story...

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