, ManipUni wrote

I kind of understand why Microsoft are doing this - in fact I even admire them for it but that being said I think "removing" DVD playback is going to bite them in the butt big time - particularly for people considering buying a Windows 7 upgrade.   

I'm not worried because people are serving Windows7Essential pack for codecs missing in Windows 7. I'm assuming some folks will do the same for Windows 8 too.

And I think I'll just have to install custom codec libraries anyway...

Btw, I think vendors will still sell Win8 + MediaCenter pack preloaded TV(?), so as long as the price being paid to Microsoft is roughly the same, this means nothing for customers.