The Windows 10 DVD Player app is now in the Windows Store for $14.99

Any Windows 10 owner can now get Microsoft's official DVD Player app for its new operating system from the Windows Store for the price of $14.99. The app was previously available for free just for people who were updating their Windows 7 or 8.1 Media Center PCs to Windows 10.

Here's the bare-bones description of the app from Microsoft:

"Windows DVD Player for Windows 10 makes it easy to watch your favorite DVDs. Watch both commercial and homemade discs in the DVD-Video format. This app requires a DVD-capable optical drive. "

Windows 10 DVD Player store listing

There's a detailed FAQ page (opens in new tab) that offers more information on the Windows 10 DVD Player app. One thing we will point out is that it will not play any Blu-Ray discs; people with Blu-Ray drives will have to get a third-party application to run those kinds of discs on a Windows 10 PC.

Get the Windows 10 DVD Player app from the Microsoft Store (opens in new tab) ($14.99)

John Callaham
277 Comments
  • VLC Player!!
  • +1 For that idea :P
  • Yep.. I am not paying 15 dollars(1k) for that !
  • I upgraded from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro and did not get the DVD Player app for free! :( not fair, looks like VLC media player is the way to go.
  • Did you have media center?  I think that is what "Qualifies"
  •   this happened to me when i upgraded from Win8.1 with media center. it didnt download the dvd player... but there is a workaround. SOLUTION:     1. Download from Windows Update:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2015/07/windows10.0-kb3081704-x64_ceaa55720fcf4dc8d568b7acb4cf9acf27f54f41.cab 2. Make 2 directories, c:\temp and c:\temp2 3. Extract the windows10.0-kb3081704-x64.msi file from downloaded cabinet file into c:\temp 4. Open command prompt as admin and type (or copy/paste this):   msiexec /a c:\temp\windows10.0-kb3081704-x64.msi /qb TARGETDIR=c:\temp2 5. Open PowerShell as admin and type (or copy/paste this, all one line):   Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackagePath c:\temp2\InstallDVDAppxPackage\cd0c0ffe0ee94518833e70b1e931fcff.appxbundle -LicensePath c:\temp2\InstallDVDAppxPackage\cd0c0ffe0ee94518833e70b1e931fcff_License1.xml     Congratulations, you now have Windows DVD App as promised.  :)   source: 1applepc on windows community.
  • I try this but I received the following: Add-AppxProvisionedPackage : The requested operation requires elevation. At line:1 char:1 + Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackagePath c:\temp2\InstallDVDAp ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Add-AppxProvisionedPackage], COMExcept     + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.AddAppxProvisionedPackageCommand
  • I am really frustrated with Windows at this point. The amount of money you all make and you dont want to pay pay for using a licens. This situation is very irritating. Someone can spend alot of money on a computer just for this. I had windows 8, the dvd player was working fine, got tricked into upgrading to windows 10 and now my computer doesnt play dvds, I am a college student and your company bamboozled me. If I coulld i would go door to door and discourages anyone from purchasing a windows system. you all are money mongers, I cant wait to graduate so i can reach a wider audience and warn them. I have already warned who I can so far and I wont stop until I can reach as many people as possible.   I tried your directions and it didnt work not at all surprised, this is rediculous I would rather spend my money purchsing an external drive, than investing in your schemes for one many have purchased your dvd player and it still doesnt play their dvds
  • Nothing else needs to be said.
  • Why is it on sale in the first place? What makes it special?
  • @kenzibit - It's not 'special', for every copy of Windows someone installs, Microsoft has to pay a licensing fee to provide DVD playback capabilities.  All companies who use DVD playback as part of a product that is sold (i.e. Windows) have to pay a licensing fee per user.  VLC is not a real company nor is it making any money from VLC player, so that's why they can do it for free.
  • Interestinggggggg... Thx for the fact.
  • This is partially false. VLC is a French company, and Frech law does not recognize pantenting software. Therefore, DVD decryption software, codecs, etc. cannot be patented and sold in France. Because they do not recognize patents of software, nor do they make any money off of it, they can bundle the codecs in their software without paying a royalty.
  • That price seems a bit steep, don't you think?
  • Licensing doesn't cost that much, nothing wrong with selling it for profit, but for what your getting this is way too much.
    Would have to look it up but the license is probably $5.
    It's almost like they don't want to sell it, so this way no one buys it and they don't have to support it. Yet they can say they put out the cut down replacement for media center.
  • If this app doesn't sell, Microsoft can say that they were right and that no one wanted the dvd player which means there was little interest in having Media Center ported over into Windows 10. It's a crafty way to weasel out of offering Media Center by only focusing on DVD playback. Charging $15 is a subtle way of giving Media Center users the middle finger.
  • VLC all the way... http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.en_GB.html
  • $14 ... I would rather donate to VLC, they have been working real hard
  • Considering Microsoft ditched Media Center, i would say theyd prefer it if you did that as well... theyre obviously trying to get out of the DVD Codec support game
  • This should be a free download or part of an update.
  • Absolutely! If you had Media Center on your computer before the upgrade it should be FREE! Period!
  • I think there is a limited offer for that, probably not obvious though.
  • Uh, it is free for exactly that reason. No need to mention you're on your period :P
  • Lol!  You got me!  :)
  • Lol good one. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • It is  
  • For a "limited" time. And not even for the same time frame as the Windows 10 update.
  • If you had Media Center - then the DVD Player is a free feature that will automatically download and install.  Look for it - it's probably already on your machine.
  • It is on mine, but I get an error code    
  • You just got Windows 10 for free and are crying about a $14 app to be able to play DVDs? Seriusly?
  • $15 for dvd payback???? Windows 8.1 pro's media center was a $10 add-in which can record 32 cable channels at once along with any media format you threw at it. So yeah, $15 is a complete rip off and I heard this app is buggy to begin with.
  • "I heard"
  • KMPlayer!! Never looked for alternatives
  • Dang, how much do Microsoft have to license that for? I don't see this as being a money grub move, so it must not be cheap. If it had Blu-ray support, I'd consider it but then it would probably be 39.99 :P
  • Well unfortunately licensing from these are quite hefty. We can't really blame Microsoft for the price.
    If it had Blu-Ray it would be even more expensive. Still I wished that if have a Blu-Ray, the app will support it even with additional cost.
  • That's what I paid for mine and it was on special... 50%off
  • So...it's a useless app... Vlc is better. Microsoft just priced it to make us think we are getting something in return for losing media center.
  • Not really... for a company to pay a DVD playback licensing fee x billions of users... that's mad expensive.  The licensing fee I've heard is not cheap either.   VLC doesn't make any money from VLC player, so that's why they can do it for free.  While Windows is free now, they still have a Store, so it's still considered a commercial product.
  • With everything moving to streaming, this is just another nail in the coffin of DVD.
    Whoever collects the licence is milking it before it dies.
  • Sigh.yes.
  • Personally I don't even own a computer that has an optical drive. The desktop I just built doesn't even have one, so I would tend to agree with your statement. However, if you are like me at all you have tons of DVD's and Blueray movies that were purchased before the big push towards digital downloads. Now I just buy my movies from Google Play. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Maybe this will further push internet service providers to beef up service. I tried streaming Robot Overloards on Xbox last weekend. The two minute trailer took me over three. I popped in my DVD of Oblivion instead, and enjoyed non-stop playback. Streaming is great!
  • Plus, you know the OEMs will shovel PowerDVD and Nero on their machines, so I'm sure it won't be a huge deal for most end users.
  • $14.99.......wait, WHAAAAAT ?
  • Player not worth 14.99...
  • Well that sucks
  • ???? Paying for something that should be free....
  • Don't forget that you got the os for free. They still have to pay the licensing for the ability to play DVDs. They cannot recoup the cost of that in the cost of the os.
  • NO you do not get the OS for free, you get to UPGRADE your existing OS for free. Very different things.
  • Fair enough. But.. how many people actually usetheir DVD player? Not everyone using windows. Then whyshould everyone have to pay for it?
  • This is the same thing I say about Obama care... why do I have to pay for people to lazy to get a job. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Actually its not 2 different things. Its exactly the same thing. Previous "upgrades" were paid for. So since there was no upgrade fee, this covers licensing. Everyone needs to stop feeling so entitled. Geez.
  • Its same, you get the new os for free
  • Windows 8.1 pro upgrade wasn't free and you still had to buy Media Center for $10 which is $5 cheaper that this POS app that only plays a soon to be defunct format.
  • Why should it be free?
  • Because it's been supported in media player, Zune, & media center since forever. No one would expect to pay for what amounts to legacy media at this point
  • But I'm pretty sure the DVD licenses actually cost MSFT money if they'r eincluded in the OS
  • And the OS costs us money when we buy it, so what are you on about? Microsoft is getting their moneys worth; and NO You don't get the OS for free, you are only getting a free upgrade, you still have to OWN a previous license that you paid for, and that had DVD playback capability included in the price.
  • Every other upgrade was a paid one, and Win10 doesn't support it natively, so yeah you have to pay for it so they can pay licensing. What's so hard to understand? If the upgrade was a paid upgrade, the app would probably be free or included.
  • So you're saying that next year this app will be free when Windows 10 is no longer a free upgrade? Do you think this app should be free if I ordered a purchased version of Windows 10? Because it still won't be.
  • Then request a refund for you Win10 update.
  • John: The people who had the licence in the old version of windows got the DVD player for free- so your argurment is moot. They are not having to pay for it again.
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows-10/windows-dvd-player 
  • You are getting the OS for free, never in the history of Windows have you been able to jump versions for free. So stop with the "I bought a previous version"... So i walk back into my GM dealership and demand an new corvette because I own last years model... are you kidding me?
  • And those products had the cost of the licensing built into the product. You got the OS for free.
  • But when I buy a new copy of Windows 10 (no upgrade, but a brand new license) I still wont have native dvd play capabilities in Windows 10 and have to pay 14,99$ above the regular licensefee to het something that should have been natively in Windows 10 in the first place.
    People have several previous editions of Windows that makes them expect Windows 10 to support DVD natively.
    14,99$ is to expensive with Free alternatives like VLC player outthere. 4,99$ would have been a better price ;-)
  • If you have a previous version of windows, then follow the link that was shared here in the comments. As far as the purchase of the OS: It is still cheaper than it was, probably partially due to this. Not everyone wants to play DVDs on their computer, so why should everyone have to pay for it?  
  • Windows 10 pro retail is $200. Home is $150. All previous versions cost the same so not sure what you mean that Windows 10 is cheaper. 
  • Why should it be there in the first place? Most current machines don't have optical drives, so Win10 technically doesn't support it natively. Hence the app. It all makes sense from a business stand point. Self entitlement has got you blinded my friend.
  • it is free for those who have media center.
  • Remember Media Center had an additional cost as well. I think it was $15 for the add-on as a matter of fact.
  • But that was a full WMC that had a LOT more capabilities then a stupid DVD player; if they charged $15 for a full WMC add-in I would be fine with that, but cutting out all the good stuff that made up WMC and then charging $15 for just DVD playback is a dick move.
  • It is $10 making it $5 cheaper. Media center had more features and had the abilty to play back Bluray (with plugin)
  • Free if you upgrade to Windows 10. Losing access to Media Center. Has to be upgraded and install on a PC that was previously 8.1 /w Pro Media Center. Not sure if it marks it as installable on other PCs after wards.
  • If I was using media centre and relying on it, I would not be upgrading yet. Problem solved for the moment until a decent alternitve becomes avaiable. (I didnt think there were that many users until recently.)
    Just like I have to think about what I will do with Windows Home Server 2011 when it stops getting updates and support.
  • So then download Zune and use that.
  • Tell that to the company that charges Microsoft and other companies that fee. For every copy of Windows someone installs, Microsoft has to pay a licensing fee to provide DVD playback capabilities.  All companies who use DVD playback as part of a product that is sold (i.e. Windows) have to pay a licensing fee per user.  VLC is not a real company nor is it making any money from VLC player, so that's why they can do it for free.
  • Still waiting for a native bluray option. My bluray drive will continue to sit unused for now since I'm not gonna drop over $100 for the software to play it.
  • Just get VLC player.
  • I preferred mplayer (smplayer.hq) over vlc cause of the speed to start any format.
  • I hadn't been able to get VLC to play menus in some Bluray discs. It plays the streams, but some movies (specifically Watchmen) scenes play in a random order in VLC for me.
  • your Blu-ray drive didn' t come with the software?
  • Very stupid
  • $14.99!?  Seriously?
  • It's called licensing. They'll have to make some money somehow considering you got a free OS.
  • And what about the good old built in media player.....
  • Still there afaik
  • Are they having a laugh? I bet you they will release a blu-ray player app and charge the same or more....
  • Quite the opposite... I'm pretty sure they hate having to do that, as do all other companies who want to include DVD/blu-ray playback in their products.  In order to keep Windows cost down (free), they removed the ability to play DVDs because for every copy of Windows someone installs, Microsoft has to pay a licensing fee to provide DVD playback capabilities.  It's the same for all other companies. They're not stupid... they know there are a lot of free options available, especially VLC.  VLC doesn't get charged those licensing fees because they are not a real company nor do they make any money from VLC player. 
  • They should integrate this instead to TV & Movies if possible. It make sense to integrate that instead, we want less apps but we need more capable single app in the same category. Also since this is Universal App, it means that it supports disc drives or other external media. Then Groove Music app have no reason not to have CD features exactly similar from WMP. Lastly, video players really should have dark theme by default, not this blinding white when you pops-out playback controls.
  • Microsoft doesnt like integrating anymore..they are all about dedicated apps now. Well this is what Win8,WP8 -> Win10 is showing us
  • Well that's sad. I'm fine not having combined Music+Videos but I find it bad not to even integrate sensible features into single app. Groove Music is now a default music player, and it make sense to have CD and device syncing features in the app rather than seperating them just because. Same with TV & Film. Do we really need totally seperate apps for every single thing, especially separting apps that only have a single purpose? It's like having two seperate camera apps, one for taking still photos and one for taking videos.
  • There is a dark theme, they just didn't include the options in Settings yet for some reason.  Possibly in an upcoming update.
  • Dark theme option in TV & Films (and DVD app), currently that option seems missing. The function is there but its useless since there is no option currently, which I expect it will come in future update. Still I find video players deserve to be dark theme by default. The UI controls of those apps are distracting when watching something, especially on movies and lights are turned off. Being non-transparent and long auto-hide time adds the issue too. I hope we will get that update soon.
  • This doesn't even play Blu-Rays!
  • All, remember that you did not pay for the os. They still have to pay for licensing to play DVDs.
  • That's a whole extra ball of licensing fees that must be paid.
  • Dude, do you work for them or just want to? No matter what you say, free OS blah blah, etc. It is still too much to pay to the average person.
  • Then don't buy it... kinda like every other product ever.
  • Then don't buy it and stop complaining. Those who see a purpose will buy, and those who don't won't.
  • @Microsoft: We have 2015. Do you know "Blu-Ray"?
  • Microsoft (I think specifically Windows team) should ask the Xbox team what is Blu-Ray.
  • do you know that any device that plays Blu-rays has to pay a license fee? Any computer you bought with a Blu-ray drive should have included the software to play them.
  • Microsoft most likely knows that most people will just use the free VLC player since VLC doesn't get charged licensing fees.
  • That's coz VLC doesn't use any proprietary codecs. All of the codecs including DVD playback used by VLC are open source.
  • Or just download VLC Player
  • Is Microsoft Giving Gift Vouchers worth 25$ with purchase of that player....? Then I am in
  • No...
  • DVD? Does anyone even use discs anymore? Other than Blu Ray? That's pretty much failed.
  • Of course people still use discs and Blu-Ray hasn't supplanted DVDs yet. Not everyone downloads things from the internet or buys digital copies of movies. Physical is still king.
  • Well alot of people still use disc for movies and stuff. Not everybody got fast and unlimited internet. Not to mention, current standard streaming quality still don't match the disc quality.
  • Not far off. Netflix and xbox video 1080p is a gorgeous picture. And Netflix has 4k. Better than bluray.
  • Not for most countries though. Also it still requires unlimited and fast internet which unfortunately even in 2015, many countries still have suck internet (We blame ISP and maybe even government with that, not the companies). I wish we have all more same quality and relatively affordable internet like South Korea in virtually most part of the world. :( But yeah, its really nice Netflix now have 4K. There is legitimate reason now to get 4K TV.
  • And Netflix has about 1% of the content compared to actual physical media, so... not that special.
  • And 1080p+ won't stream on a crappy DSL connection that a good chunk of even the US is still stuck with. There's a reason why Redbox can still exist.
  • Agreed, spinning plastic is ancient tech. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie and tv app purchased media could be downloaded as an alternative to streamed, I just hope Kodi can integrate this so I can get everything thru there.
  • Spinning plastic is not ancient tech my friend. People still want to hold their media in their hands. That's why digital will never trump hard copies, be it movies or music. There's something to be said about opening a movie or album and smelling the inlay...reading the inlay. Makes you feel like you got something for your money. Hell people still use vinyl and vhs...more for nostalgia, but they use them.
  • Most people I know only use DVD's still. Netflix is a close second, but DVD is still king to most of the world.
  • I'm really confused as to why this is a thing. If your computer has a disc drive or you have an external one W10 can play it through Media Player or the Movies/TV app right..? This seems so pointless.
  • It isn't about the price of the app, it is about having to pay licensing to play DVDs.
  • There is no in built way to play DVDs on W10.
  • Microsoft nowadays love separating every single feature into app, instead the sensible approach of integrating it to existing app in the same category. Maybe next time we will have seperate apps of calculator, from standard to scientific.
  • The difference is that a Calculator doesn't have licencing issues than a DVD-Video Codec.
  • Licencing is another thing. You can still integrate that specific feature to existing apps, only that if you don't the disc capability (or license for codecs) then that feature is hidden and not activated. You can activate it by buying the DVD (Blu-Ray too hopefully) pack and having a disc drive just like today. Consider it as an in-app purchase or add-on. Unless there is a techinical limitation with UWP that prevents the integration from happening, then that's understandable.
  • But if you bundle the DVD player into an app that comes with Win10 you have to then raise the price of the OS to recoup the losses, whereas when you release it as a seprate app you only need to charge the small amount of people whom actually purchase it. My custom PC for instance doesnt even have a CD drive, nor do i intend to purchase one, so i would be upset if i were forced to pay for a feature i have zero interest in. At the end of the day Microsoft only made this to keep MC users happy while not intending for this to have a wide adoption rate, VLC is where its at
  • I know that and I didn't mean that the DVD app have to be bundled with the OS. Only its functionality, basically if you don't have a DVD/Blu-Ray drive nor a license, that feature is simply missing from Film & TV app. But when you have one or bought the codec as an add-on, then the existing app will simply be updated with the feature. So out-of-the-box, Windows 10 still don't have the codec by default, only when you buy the add-on which then just add that specific feature to existing app.
    This is unless an UWP limitation that add-on integration is impossible.
    Well for me, its a matter of having integrated experiences if possible.
    I know that this functionality isn't for everybody. I have one PC that don't have DVD drive too and I don't want to be charged for something I don't use. I'm not bothered that Windows 10 doesn't have those specific codecs by default, and personally I can deal with it.
  • The issue is that this App isn't a System-wide CODEC.  The UWP DVD Player itself is horrible compared to Windows Media Player, but unlike Media Center which installed a System-wide DVD CODEC, you cannot use this to play DVDs in Windows Media Player.  You have to use this horrible app. I got it for free, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy WinDVD or PowerDVD anyways, cause the player is that bad. If it was as good as the OS X DVD Player application, I wouldn't have an issue, but it's pretty clear that Microsoft wasn't even planning on developing this and only scrapped it together after the backlash following the announcement of Media Center being dropped.  They just scrapped it together in a hurry and they're even charging more for it than they did for the Pro Pack on Windows 8.1.  Did the price of a DVD CODEC really go up by $5 between then and now?
  • It's because since Windows 8, Microsoft removed the ability to natively play DVDs/Blu-Rays from Windows to keep the cost down (free!).  For every copy of Windows someone installs, Microsoft has to pay a licensing fee to provide DVD playback capabilities.  All companies who use DVD playback as part of a product that is sold (i.e. Windows) have to pay a licensing fee per user (you can imagine how expensive that can be x billions of users).  They know lots of people use free programs like VLC, so that's why.  VLC doesn't get charged licensing fees because it's not a real company nor is it making any money from VLC player.
  • GET IT FREE FROM HERE http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_apps-insider_ot...
  • Unless this app comes with the DVD player hardware, it is not worth $15. Such app should be free! I doubt anyone will pay for it, and not get vlc instead... ​
  • If only the licensing of the codec was free, it's not. If you want it free, Microsoft needs to make their own codec to play DVDs.
  • 1.  OS X comes with a much better, more polished, and more capable DVD Player.  The Windows Player doesn't play Blue Rays so it doesn't even have that going for it. 2.  Microsoft cannot make their own CODEC to play DVDs.  DVD video uses standardized, patent-encumbered Audio and Video formats and compression.  You cannot reinvent it for free.
  • I'm pretty sure they know that too... but it also shows you how expensive those licensing fees are.  I'm glad they removed it to keep Windows free.
  • Haha, I'll stick with VLC and save some money. Yesterday the Windows 10 video app froze the video but kept playing the audio. If the video started playing again it would fast forward to catch up to the audio. I switched to VLC from the app store and didn't have any issues.
  • This is a total rip off. I'll stick to VLC and play everything I need.
  • Nah I'll stick up with PowerDVD!
  • yup - i also have damn old power dvd 7 installed which i got with my dvd drive - it installes the mpeg2 codec and now i can watch dvds also with windows media player... Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • I use Blue Ray, and this app probably doesn't support that? Use vlc instead, better with viewing 21:9 films.
  • So paying for win8.1 and media centre addob, and now you get win10, no media centre and a $14.99 bill if you want to play Dvds.
  • Did you even read the article?  People with 8.1 with Media Centre gets this for free.
  • I upgraded from 8.1 media center and it is showing as $14.99 for me, how do I get it free?
  • Don't go to the Store. Click on the Windows button, go to All apps and scroll down to Windows DVD Player.
  • So looks like it just downloads if you had media center, it is in my apps.  Still showing as $14.99 in the store though, I would have thought it would show as purchased or something.
  • 14.99 here. So link please to free version. Why not just have it it install if free to correct version.
  • You don't need a link. It is already installed on your computer. Look in your apps.
  • To much. They are nuts.
  • Blame the people charging them the licensing fees.  They know there are free alternatives, hence why they were able to remove it from Windows.
  • Really? How does Apple include a DVD player with their OS and not charge out the nose for it?
  • Well from their hardware. Apple already charge premium from their hardware alone, so that should already shoulder the cost for everything in OS X. That's why they can just give away OS for free these days.
    Also they also rely on charging from their services like iCloud and Apple Music.
  • How much for a Mac...?
  • They rip off people from all their hardware.
  • I wonder how many pages the user agreement is that you have to click through to use it, and the telemetry details of where it 'sends and stores' your viewing patterns...  
  • For $14.99 I'll mail you a tin foil hat.
  • In India ppl wont pay for apps. That's the problem.
  • Hmmmm........ Yeah, I'll wait for third party apps that will play dvd and blu-ray movies without paying that high
  • Not to sound stupid but why the hell would you download and pay $14.99 when you can use the DVD player app/program that comes with the hardware maker, unless you're buying a external DVD player?
  • They probably know that already, if they didn't they wouldn't have removed it from Windows.  They just created this app for people that don't want to use VLC or the software that came with the DVD player.  But it shows you how much Microsoft had to pay in licensing fees for each other... pretty crazy and glad they removed it to keep Windows free.
  • You don't get the Windows for free, you are only getting a free upgrade, you still have to OWN a previous license that you paid for, and that had DVD playback capability included in the price.
  • MS Surface tablets do not have internal dvd players.....you HAVE to use an external player.
  • Like most everyone else, this sounds very much like a ripoff.  There are loads of desktop apps that will do this for free.  And without the option for bluray, it makes $14.99 seem even worse.  I get that the OS upgrade was free, but $14.99 for a rudimentary DVD player is excessive.  Now, if it also played blurays, or at least allowed me to watch & record TV (a la windows media center), I'd see more value in this.  Better yet, package up an app that can do all of that, then we talk.
  • Live tv and recording is coming to windows 10 and xbox one in 2016. Was at gamescom yesterday.
  • That does not help people who rely on WMC and now can't upgrade or they will not be able to watch and record TV anymore. Microsoft should have kept WMC until they release whatever else they have planned for TV in the future.
  • "Microsoft should have kept WMC until they release whatever else they have planned for TV in the future." That would be nothing, theyre not interested in a media center anymore as nobody really ever used it with things like XBMC in the world
  • Wow. Alot of silly people here. Microsoft have to license it. That cost used to be in the os price. Which you just all got free. So give over. Not everything in life is free or has no adverts. How else are people to make money. Some of you need to realise your entitled to nothing free except oxygen.
  • It's crazy, man. I don't get this mentality of free, free, free. I like free shit too. (if it's free, it's fr me!), but shit in life isn't free. That my friends is reality.
  • Oxygen costs money. Air is free!
  • Oxygen, nitrogen, CO2, and argon are all free!
  • That's where your wrong. VLC player is free and can do the same thing.
  • VLC is open source and they are not a real company that has to license products. It is not the same thing.
  • You don't get the OS for free, you are only getting a free upgrade, you still have to OWN a previous license that you paid for, and that had DVD playback capability included in the price.
  • But your not paying for windows again are you. Its still the first time its free. And how else do you pay for the millions of £s in wages and r&d it cost to make windows 10???
  • Stop sounding like a broken record. The OS is free for almost half a billion people, and if you don't own one of Microsoft's latest two OS version yea then you better cough up and pay. MS is no charity and I guess you expect payment for your work. If you even know what it is.
  • Also wtf? People use pcs to actually watch DVDs/blurays? Would do my head in using my pc for that. Xbox one on a 50 inch tv thanks.
  • My PC is connected to my 50" TV.  My PC happened to have a bluray player, so even better.  I get games (apps & web-based), internet, entertainment, productivity, etc, all on the big screen.  I even prefer using the modern apps so I can have a chat window open at the same time I'm streaming netflix, then click a link from the chat window and IE opens up along side both other apps and everything resizes accordingly.  It's great.
  • My wife would gate if I connected a pc to our tv. Its not really practical in my family home.
  • A lot of people have a PC connected to their big sceen TV and use WMC for TV watching and recording, there is no better alternative then WMC, so I definitely will not be upgrading the PC I use for my TV, what an idiotic move by Microsoft to remove WMC and then put out this piece of shit DVD app.
  • You say "a lot of people" but this isnt even remotely the case, Microsoft ditched WMC because barely anyone was actually using it
  • This is not the first time Microsoft's decisions based on telemetry has failed, though.
  • Thats fair, but why continue to pay $10/15 per license to add in a feature to the OS that less than 5% of people actually use? Why not remove those upfront costs to the users and give individual users the choice to support dying media formats or not? I dont even have a CD drive anymore, nor will i ever again
  • Then they should probably also ditch Windows Phone since "barely anyone was actually using it."
  • They did, did you miss where it got absorbed into Windows 10?
  • App is bad and not worth that much.  I got it for free cause of Media Center, but it seems like they dedicated half an hour to getting this app developed, and then forgot about it.  It's pretty horrible, and I don't think it allows Windows Media Player to play DVDs, so it's not even a proper system-wide DVD Codec. Apple doesn't even have DVD Drives in thier systems and the OS comes with a much better DVD Player than this.  I still think this is pretty much a slap in the face to users. I also like how people who got it for free with the upgrade will have to pay for it if they ever do a clean install of the OS later!  Genius, MS...  Truly.
  • No, or well... Yes. Yes about the dvd player App, it's just not worth it. No about the clean install of windows 10. Remember you have to have a Microsoft account and with that one you can have a clean install of windows 10 if you upgraded during the one year free period. Also, if your previous copy of windows wasn't legit, you can be a windows insider and stop worrying about it. Just be in the slow ring and that's it
  • No, their site says if you do a clean install, even after upgrading and owning DVD player, you'll lose your free copy and have to pay. So any kind of clean install, now or later, will cause you to lose the free option of DVD player.
  • A Walmart DVD player cost $15.
     
  • I would pay for it if it had Media Center capabilities!
  • Exactly this ^^ in Windows 8 with the Media Center add-in Microsoft at least provided some value for people that needed the TV functions of WMC, but now they have removed everything useful and offering a simple DVD player, what a dick move. Idiots.
  • For $15 you can buy a couple of real DVD players nowadays
  • I think the people in this comment section doesn't know that DVD Codecs need a license so they can put that in the OS. Remember Home Premium? Yeah. That's why it's more expensive than Home Basic.
  • 14.99? We hace VLC player and many others programs to Play dvd for free
  • Better off with the built in software bollocks to that
  • But its not built in anymore, I got it free with pro upgrade, I just want ms to update it now for my hd-dvd drive.
  • I had MC but did not get any info for the DVD player.
  • It is already installed on your computer.
  • Stupid move
  • What a scam...
  • Then don't buy. Simple not?
  • 15? Is that a joke?
  • Did not get it though I had 8.1 Media Center.... May because I was on Insider Preview :(
  • According to Wikipedia, 15-20 for DVD licensing fees
  • LOL if only the article explained why you have to pay for this app we would have avoided a lot of stupid comments. It's obvious you can get VLC for free, this is just another (pointless) option. This being said if the article explained something instead of copy-pasting... I could be a writer too these days!
  • It was only created as a stop gap for MC users who would have completely lost this feature, Microsoft doesnt want people relying on them for DVD Codec support anymore, its costly and not worthwhile, with Digital media taking over and DVD licensing remaining exorbiantly priced, now is the best time for them to ditch it
  • Microsoft should've taken the dvd playback feature out and instead make a DVR app that's Cable Labs certified. The Real reason why People wants Media Center.
  • It's free and better than VLC. https://mpc-hc.org/  
  • Yup anytime
  • MPC-HC+madVR is the best viewing option for PC.
  • Agreed.
  • This is how you get piracy
  • *VLC, not piracy
  • LOL! 15€ for a DVD player? They must be joking. Regardless of licensing fees, who on their right mind will pay 15€ for something that only plays an outdated format? This is like asking for 30€ to play VHS.   At any rate, PC players normally come with software bundles. LG threw in PowerDVD with mine and, despite the name, it plays every format including Blu-Ray. I'm sticking with that.
  • DVD sales are alive and well in most retail stores
  • who the F still watches DVD's!?
  • It definitely would be more useful if they included Bluray and 3D Bluray playback capability, but then again if you buy a Bluray drive it comes with some software anyway, even if its usually shit.
  • I do. Until they release Blu-Ray versions of the seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Allo Allo, The Addams Family, Fawlty Towers, South Park etc etc etc, DVD's are the only way to go.   Also, some things are still, inexplainably, only being released on DVD in 2015.
  • Many people still have big DVD collections.
  • The Blu ray player on xbox one doesn't cost a dime. But I guess that's different.
  • Unless you got your Xbox for free, it most certainly is costing you, as its included in the price of the console. And this should have been included in the price of Win10.
  • You paid for it when you bought the console
  • This app didn't work when I got it with W10. I thought at first my W10 install was, for some reason, set to the wrong region and that was why it wasn't working, but nope. VLC player worked fine. Maybe it'll work now.
  • macgo windows bluray player already activated, free downloads in torrents.
  • So you have to pay to watch your movies on a computer now? Did I miss something?
  • Yes, the last forever where you always did, but they just added the cost to the OS without giving you the choice to not pay it
  • Looks like Microsoft has lost their mind completely; it was one thing to change for a full Windows Media Center add-in that actually had useful TV features, but now removing everything that was useful in WMC and have the nerve to release this piece of shit with just DVD playback, not even Bluray and at $15, what the hell were they thinking? And for the fanboys saying its because of licensing, that is complete BS, because I can guarantee that Microsoft is not paying anyone $15 per copy sold. Plus you are already paying for the OS, NO the free UPGRADE does not count, the OS is still being sold if you build your own PC, or if you don't already have a copy of Win7 or Win8 that you PAID for and had WMC in already in case of Windows 7 or if you grabeb the WMC add-in for free when upgrading from Win7 within a certain time.
       
  • Lol just STFU and download one of the many free options, Microsoft has zero interest in being your DVD codec supporter... Cry more
  • He expects to get everything for free. You know he paid for XP ten years ago so why should you pay again. And upgrade from 5 year old software doesn't count as free because you paid back then and MS better bust their asses off the next decade without getting a dime. The guy probably never worked in his life.
  • Hell no that was a waste of effort making this app. They would have been better keeping windows media center and charging for that
  • No, they really wouldnt. WMC cost a lot more money to support and produce than a simple DVD app does, and barely anyone was using WMC to begin with... Why keep pumping out an obscenely expensive to produce app that nobody uses?
  • So you have the numbers that nobody used it right, if not then STFU.
  • Here you go troll:   http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Media-Center-Launched-by-6-of-Win...   http://www.zdnet.com/article/rip-windows-media-center/   Nobody Used WMC, they didnt just cancel it for shits and giggles
  • Daylight robbery.
  • That's shocking!
  • Are they out of their mind?
  • Not good at all
  • LOL, $15 to watch a DVD on your computer? Are the freaking kidding? What's next, $10 for your Ethernet and WiFi drivers? $20 for a web browser?
  • Barking up the wrong tree
  • Seems a bit much.
  • Not really, theyre just charging you to cover the licensing fee... also they really dont want people to keep relying on them for DVD codec support, they basically want you to use one of the various free programs that do the same thing and doesnt cost them Millions to support.
  • Funny thing is standalone dvd players can be had for just a little more. Wonder what the license cost is?
  • What? They are charging you to be able to watch a DVD?
  • You can use VLC for free. You just have to download it.
  • It's a good thing I don't use DVD or BR on PC. Never quite liked the experience. Dedicated devices in the living room and bedroom (read Consoles) or streaming it is here on out. I've already migrated my entire DVD collection into Vudu. The codec mess is a nightmare for people who don't even know what those are so this move makes sense and will encourage even more adoption of streaming/ downloadable content.
  • In it's current form it is a £1-2 app.
  • It's 17.39 $ up here.  And it doesn't even include Blu-ray capability.  Doesn't Apple give this away with their OS?        
  • Microsoft used to, as well. Im guessing the idea is that they are giving away the OS so that they can monotize everything else.
  • I upgraded to 10 (wrongly - the key didn't work), them read something about this dvd app so I re-installed 8, updated it, upgraded to 8.1, then upgraded to 10 again. No DVD app.
    Bollocks!
  • That silly. Remove a free app and replace it with a fairly expensive one? Im afriad to check if things like Movie Maker are still free.
  • 15 dollars MS go to hell... VLC rules.
  • Windows DVD Player was first installed automatically after doing my upgrade to W10 Pro (had W8.1 Pro w/Media Center) but now that I've performed a fresh install it is $17.39 (CDN), so in other words I do believe you negate your eligibility once you've done a "fresh" install.
  • That's what they say. I did an update from 8.1pro. But still have to pay
  • Wtf
  • MPC ftw!
  • I think it's absurd that it's not included as part of the OS.
  • The OS is mostly given For free. It would incur a huge amount on Microsoft side if they added it. Think of the numbers of the computers that will be upgraded for free. Let's take a small sample of 100 million. Now multiply that by an estimate of 5$ per dvd playback license. That is already half a billion!
  • It's actually $2 for DVD playback. So, even if Microsoft hit their target of one billion PC's with windows 10, that equates to 2 billion dollars, far less than Microsoft wrote of from the Nokia deal.
  • Well, I already got mine for free when I installed Windows 10 so I don't care how much they charge. Microsoft offered Media Center for free when they first started selling Windows 8 so I'm not out anything at this point.
  • What is the best Blu-ray/DVD player for purchase for use on WIndows 10?  I would love something lightweight that shows track number information... I want to use it mainly so that I can figure out what titles to rip to my media server. Everything I've tried is a really expensive monstrous piece of software that doesn't work very well. Thanks!
  • For $15 I'd expect it would play DRM bluray discs.... VLC all the way
  • So they took it away, to give us the option to get it back later at this price... Bad move from Microsoft! This is insane, I doubt/hope anybody is buying this...
    This moves just tells me one thing, Microsoft is not doing well, they're loosing money so they figured out a way to get some
  • Losing money? They're doing extremely well and trading high (they had the Nokia write of this quarter but have known Nokia was a bust for a while and have allocated assets accordingly. This is just maximising profit potential. Like a nonsense subscription for solitaire. I'm surprised they didn't make a subscription offer for dvd playback. Greed does funny things.
  • Its hard to justify $15 for DVD playback when Media Center cost $10 as an addon with Windows 8 Pro. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/03/making-windows-media-cente...
  • What a nonsense. MSFT should suck it up and just make this free. Not everyone wants the badly cloud and DVD serves a purpose. Otherwise vlc.
  • This should be free with blue Ray support
  • Wow DVDs....and what about BDs? There is just Cyberlink left now.
  • Incredible what uproar $15 can do. Think it's too pricey don't buy. If you want free use alternatives. It's really very basic.
  • Haha. Win32 ♥
  • It costs $2 to license DVD playback software. $15 for this is an absolute rip off.
  • Why would I pay for a DVD player??
  • Everybody keeps promoting VLC. That's all good and well, unless you have an external BluRay player. My player is recognized by my computer, but trying to play a DVD does not work. So for me, playing a DVD thru my BluRay external drive does not work.  
  • Just use VLC. I've been using it for years, and its much better than Microsoft solution. This functionality shoild have been included in the Movies and TV app though. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • I tried VLC, it doesn't work
  • Can I get 2 Big Mac meals large fries large Coke and I'll take that and eat it with in about 15 minutes. DvD playback for the same price Last me forever. Until I don't need it anymore.
  • At $15, probably the whole idea is to get rid of it.....after few months they would say their research showed almost a total lack of interest in this app, therefore we are pulling the plugs on it.
  • Microsoft must be on crack. For $15, it should be able to play bluray discs and have cable tv DVR functionality. This useless app costs more than Media Center on windows 8.1. The real reason Media Center users are not upgrading to Windows 10 is not for DVD play back, it's for the excellent DVR capabilities in Media Center. If Microsoft continues to lay off more of their workers, Please get rid of the people who thought this app will appease WMC users!!!!!!
  • It depends.  VLC Player, and other alternatives, are not always as smooth as the official solution.  I imagine this is $15 because of what Microsoft has to pay for the liscensing?  I imagine I'd pay, as it is cheaper than a DVD player. If Windows 10 is your daily driver, and it is in the same network as your TV I'd pay if I had the ability to stream the content to the TV.  That would be an interesting experience.  But for the ability to play a DVD on a computer, nothing else, no.  I can understand not having native DVD support on the free upgrade to WIndows 10.  But what about the paid version?  If I am paying $119, I expect to be able to play back DVDs. 
  • I dont even want this for free let alone paying for it,i use VLC for everything besides music anyways
  • It is only free when you have Win 7 or Win 8/8.1 with the Media Centre feature. It get installed automatcially when you upgrade to Win 10. It works fine when you play without subtitles. It fails when you play with subtutles. I have reported problem to MS. Not surprised it was not fully tested. And it does not have full screen feature. Anyhow I have VLC, DivX, Toshiba Bluray dosc (can play DVDs) players and they all work fine in Win 10.
  • It's an absolute Microshaft your pocket book ripoff!!! No flippin way I'm paying for something that should already be on Windows 10 Media Player, like it was on previous Windows!!!!  
  • Don't see my first post. VLC is installed and ready to go!!!!!