A known by the name of BluePrint has figured out a way to use the Xbox 360 HD DVD player on a personal computer without the need of an Xbox 360. In a statement included in a .nfo file, BluePrint says:

We' re now able to read the UDF (Universal Disc Filesystem) v2.5 which is currently used by the Toshiba Corp with there first generation HD-DVDRom drives. You can see the entire contents of the HD-DVD Media when in the drive.

Again, these are litterally Toshiba Corp drivers for the file system used with HD-DVD.

Obviously, the hardware required to playback a HD DVD movie is way more expensive than an Xbox 360 console but for those who already own such computer and don' t want to get an Xbox 360 in order to watch HD DVD movies, this is definitely an option.

The following image shows how the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive appears on a personal computer running Windows XP:

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