Goodbye Windows Media Center
The writing was on the wall with the introduction of Windows 8 and Microsoft has now announced that Media Center will not be available for Windows 10. Microsoft stopped development on Media Center some years back (2009 I believe) and although it was still available for Windows 8 as an extra, it will not be available for Windows 10, full stop.
In fact, according to Microsoft, Media Center is not compatible with Windows 10, and that means anyone who upgrades from Windows 7/8/ and 8.1 who has Media Center installed will lose it, it will not be carried over during the upgrade.
Those who use Media Center’s full blown features for streaming, TV, etc. will need to look elsewhere for their Media Center fix. Fortunately, there are several viable free alternatives available including Kodi (formerly XBMC), and Plex (which is a 2-part sever and player install).
Playing DVDs in Windows 10
However, I am assuming that the majority would be similar to myself and only using Media Center to play DVDs and/or Blu-ray discs, and that is an easy fix. I’ve been looking into popular media players’ ability to play back DVDs and the only one I could definitively confirm includes this function is VLC, which of course is an excellent player anyway.
How To Play DVDs in VLC
Click Media and from the drop-down menu select Open Disc:
(as you can see from the above screenshot, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + D will also bring up this function)
This will take you to a settings window:
You only really need to worry about the top half of the settings – select disc type and disc device (most will have only one ROM drive). Once you’ve completed your settings, simply click the Play button and away you go.
If you know of any other free media players which support DVD/Blu-ray playback, please inform us via the comments.
Cheers… Jim
I find Power DVD an excellent program for playing DVD’s. I cannot say it is FREE but it came preloaded on all 3 of my new computer purchases (eMachines,Dell & HP). It also comes with DVD drives if you buy the retail versions as opposed to the OEM’s. With the OEM’s your lucky if you get the anti-static plastic bags. I do have VLC but I don’t think I’ve ever tried playing a DVD on it. I use it for every other type of media format known to man or beast. While I always have had Windows Medea Player, I’ve never used it for DVD’s either.
Keep up the great articles…………….Alan
Jim, you keep forgetting about the GOM player. I’ve tried countless other players, but always return to GOM. It’s only flaw that I’m aware of, is the ability to play or select more than one language if the torrent has several, Mindblower!
I haven’t forgotten about GOM MB, but I’m pretty sure it does not support playing DVDs, which was the crux of this article.
Please correct me if I am wrong.