Microsoft is deprecating Legacy DRM services – these clients are affected

Microsoft has added another feature to the list of deprecated Windows features. After tagging Paint 3D and Adobe Type1 fonts as deprecated in August 2024, it set its eyes on legacy DRM features this time.

DRM refers to Digital Rights Management. It is used to allow playback of protected media.

Deprecation means that the feature will be removed eventually from Windows. Microsoft does not say when this is going to happen for the mentioned features.

The details:

The change affects DRM on Windows 7 and Windows 8 only. Microsoft does not mention Windows 8.1, which makes it unclear if the system is also affected.
Windows Media Player and Silverlight are mentioned specifically by Microsoft.

Windows 7: Windows Media Player affected

Windows 7 users who use Windows Media Player to play DRM content won’t be able to do so anymore once Microsoft removes the functionality.

This means:

If you used Windows Media Player to rip CDs with protected content, then you won’t be able to play these CDs anymore.
Windows Media Player won’t play any protected content anymore. This may include purchased media.

Windows 7 users who used Media Player to rip content may need to use another program to rip the CDs again. The free CDex is a great audio CD ripper.

Microsoft released a Digital Rights Update Tool to the Microsoft Store that allows users to remove copy protection of wma audio files ripped with Windows Media Player. This may also work, but requires Windows 10 or newer. The tool is notoriously buggy according to reviews.

Windows 8: Silverlight and more

Windows 8 machines won’t be able to play protected content anymore as well once the change lands.

Microsoft mentions Silverlight clients and also Windows 8 clients as affected. The effect is the same as on Windows 7: any attempt to play protected content in a Microsoft tool or a player that uses Microsoft technology is blocked once Microsoft removes the functionality.

This also affects streaming from a Silverlight or Windows 8 client to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Windows 7 and 8 are not supported anymore

Both operating systems that Microsoft mentions are not supported anymore (apart from select non-Consumer versions). Both ran out of support in early 2023, which means that Microsoft is not creating updates for the systems anymore.

While most Windows users have upgraded their devices to newer versions of Windows, a sizeable percentage of users is still using devices with these operating systems.

Statcounter estimates that about 3 percent of Windows users are still on Windows 7 or Windows 8. With more than a billion Windows devices, that is still a sizeable number of users.

Closing Words

Microsoft released a new Windows Media Player in the meantime for newer versions of Windows. This player does not appear fully compatible with DRM media files created on Windows 7 using legacy DRM systems.

You may try the tool mentioned above to remove DRM, but it may not work in all cases. You can check out the latest deprecated features on Microsoft’s website.

Are you affected by Microsoft’s decision? Did you use Windows Media Player or Silverlight in the past? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Summary