Sadly this is (legally) not possible. The copyright holders (producers, movie industry) want to protect their core assets in every way possible.
And i would like to help change their mind I guess im just not as resigned as you are regarding these guys, i believe they can be pushed into avoiding DRM by boycotting and lobbying.
Is Microsoft/Vista to blame for this? i think not..
I mostly agree, but they did not have to make it that easy for the content providers. In general i feel microsoft, while somewhat innovative, have been spending too much time lately programming limitations instead of features.
When other operating systems (like linux/macosx) are going to support HD-DVD playback they will need to add the exact same DRM functionality to their platform since its a requirement from the movie industry.
I have a hard time seeing anyone implementing a protected media path with certified drivers in Linux. In Denmark and other Scandinavian countries there is a strong political push towards ensuring things are not locked to a single platform or device. Just look at the iTunes mess for example(illegal in Norway now, and being sued elsewhere), so they might be forced to enable playback on Linux without the 'proctected media path' in place in the long term. Apart from that, during the whole DeCSS thing it was legal to break the protection on DVDs here in Denmark in order to play it back on Linux. This might have changed, but if it hasnt then im sure upcoming cracks of the HD-DVD DRM for linux will be distributable without legal issues.
I dont think they stand any chance
The number of (standalone) HD-DVD players is perhaps 1000x higher then the number of pc's used to watch HD-DVD. Even today most people watch DVDs on a standalone player instead of using Windows (or linux or macosx)
Then it shouldnt be such a big deal not to support it I think the HD-DVD is already a dinosaur, and it is very vulnerable. If you started getting stories in the press about microsoft saying they wouldnt want to support this archaic crap, then the content providers might get nervous. Besides, its not like MS would lose customers, i dont think anyone would change from Windows -> Mac just to play HD-DVDs.
DRM is here and its going to stay, whether we, microsoft or anybody else likes it.
Well, i guess there is two approaches to this. One is being resigned about it and accept it, the other is to fight back, which is what i prefer. I simply dont buy DVDs/CDs and i can ensure you i will never buy a HD-DVD or Bluray disc (unless its a writable one for backup . I also donate money to groups that try to prevent DRM.
But who knows... perhaps some genius guy comes along and hacks the HD-DVD DRM so everyone can playback their HD-DVD's on any machine..
Its already on the way as people have mentioned already. I would suggest visiting http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/ once in a while. They have a series of articles explaining the HD-DVD protections, and i believe they also discuss exactly how many/what combination of keys are needed to break the whole system. At least for HDCP they argue that it can actually be broken reasonably fast with a bruteforce method, and if you break that you can trick a HD-DVD player into delivering the uncompressed video to an untrusted device which can then capture it. Of course this is not the easiest way to do it, but im sure the on-disc encryption will follow suit.