Microsoft adds native MKV support to Windows 8.1

One of the more annoying features of Windows 8 and 8.1 has long been the lack of support for Matroska (MKV) files. MKV is one of the most flexible container formats available, but when Microsoft announced the file formats it would support natively with the Metro or Windows Media Player, MKV didn’t make the list. The company is finally rectifying that oversight.

First, a word on what MKV actually is. Like the old AVI (Audio Video Interleave), MKV is a container file format as opposed to an actual encoding standard. Most of the file types that people talk about — MP3, MP4, MKV, AVI — are container formats. The same video stream can be encoded in MP4, MKV, MPEG-2, or AVI. Each of these container formats will impose its own set of rules and limitations on the final output, but they all accomplish the same thing (with varying degrees of quality and capability).

Depending on who you ask, MKV is prized for two reasons. The cynical might say it’s typically favored by pirates, and to be honest, that’s where the format is most popular. Visitpopular torrent sites, and MKV files abound.

Linking MKV and piracy, however, is a lot like linking RAR file compression or BitTorrentactivity with piracy, or claiming that because programs like TrueCrypt can be abused, they automatically will be abused. At best, this is sloppy thinking. Many companies now use peer-to-peer networking to distribute files to large user bases without crushing their own infrastructure.

There are technical advantages and disadvantages to MKV. On the plus side, it’s one of the most flexible container formats in existence, with support for multiple audio and video streams that some other formats, like MP4, don’t support or only support in restricted fashion. If you have a multimedia library that you’ve built from ripped discs over a period of years, with multiple format shifts over time, MKV is a simple way to preserve or standardize it.

Previous attempts to bring MKV support to Windows 8 did not go well, as we covered in our Surface review

The downside to MKV is that it typically isn’t well supported in mobile players, though there are some exceptions. Most of the players aren’t rated very well, though VLC for iOS does claim MKV capability (it’s not mentioned on the Android version). VLC’s much-ballyhooed launch for Windows 8 occurred earlier this year.

The reason I’m glad to see Windows 8 add this use-case is simple: it means Windows 8.1 now has an edge over Windows 7 when it comes to installing the OS and firing up media content. With Windows 7, I have to plan to install VLC or K-Lite. With Windows 8.1, content should play out of the box, provided that the necessary updates are slipstreamed into the OS install. Right now, this support is limited to Windows 8’s Xbox Video player, but the company apparently intends to make global MKV support happen in Windows 10 from the get-go.

Microsoft now accepts Bitcoin across all of its online stores

There might be life in the old beast yet: Microsoft now accepts Bitcoin as a payment option on its Windows and Xbox stores — which means you can now use Bitcoin to purchase a new copy of Windows, the latest installment of Call of Destiny: Master Chief Edition, or even to buy the latest season of your favorite TV show. Obviously, this is a pretty big deal for Bitcoin: Not only is a currency only as valuable as its ability to be exchanged for useful goods, but an endorsement from a company as large as Microsoft will be seen as a significant milestone that might get other important companies to take another look at accepting Bitcoin.

As of yesterday morning, you can now use bitcoins to add funds to your Microsoft account. When you go to add new funds, you have the usual options of using a credit card or gift card — but now you also have the option of using bitcoins (it’s US-only for now, incidentally). Microsoft isn’t handling Bitcoin itself; instead, it’s partnering with BitPay, a payment gateway. Basically, BitPay allows retailers to accept bitcoins instead of dollars — and then it goes ahead and handles all of the actual currency exchange, so that there’s no risk for the retailer (the Bitcoin-USD exchange rate is somewhat volatile).

In short, this means you can now use Bitcoin to pay for (I think) everything that Microsoft sells online — basically, everything from the various Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox stores. I’m not sure if this covers the Microsoft Store itself — I don’t know if you can buy a new Microsoft Band or Surface tablet with bitcoins — but I wouldn’t be surprised (the online Microsoft Store uses the same account credentials as all of Microsoft’s other services). In any case, you can definitely use your bitcoins to buy Xbox games, music and video content, and apps for any of your Windows or Windows Phone devices. If you’re feeling particularly avant garde, you’ll probably even be able to pay your Windows 10 subscription with bitcoins.

Microsoft, which joins the likes of Newegg and Dell, is almost certainly the largest company so far to accept Bitcoin. With the legal status of Bitcoin as a currency somewhat in limbo, and a historically very volatile exchange rate, many larger companies have shied away from accepting it. With the exchange rate stabilizing, though, and slick gateways like BitPay assuming most of the risk, adoption is definitely on the rise. It will be interesting to see if other tech juggernauts like Apple and Google now follow suit — and, even more importantly, whether this will cause the value of Bitcoin to increase or decrease.

Oh, and of course, if you have significant Bitcoin holdings, and you haven’t yet bought anXbox One or PS4, this might be the clincher that you were waiting for.