Plenty of software manufacturers do pay this royalty, though. Another reason for killing off DVD playback, though, is that producing DVD decoding software requires paying royalties.

Additionally, Microsoft wanted Windows 10’s design to be consistent across Windows 10 phones and Surface tablets. Microsoft says they removed the DVD playback functionality because no one watches DVDs anymore these days we stream movies online. The good news is that there are plenty of DVD player downloads available online. You don’t need to run out and find this in a store, you just need to do a DVD player download online. Unless your computer’s manufacturer installed DVD software on your machine (some Dell laptops come pre-installed with CyberLink PowerDVD, for instance), you need to get yourself a Windows 10 compatible DVD player. So how do you play a DVD on Windows 10? Sure, there may be a DVD drive built into the side of your new or upgraded Windows 8 machine – but when you pop a DVD into that drive, you might only get a whirring sound for about 45 seconds. Add to your list of issues with the new Windows 10 operating system the curious fact that it does not come with DVD playback software.

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