Launching a URL, be it web based or file based, from a DVD adds to the overall experience that DVD authors can provide the viewers. On the Mac platform, the software which handles this and is built in to Mac OSX is called DVD@ccess. The alternative is called Interactual Player, and is far more prevalent on the windows platform.
Authoring discs on a Mac using DVD Studio Pro is a rewarding experience, but adding URL links and getting them to work on a PC is not. DVD@ccess is, at best, flaky when run on a PC – not that the software is unstable at all, more that it is totally unreliable. You cannot accurately predict whether the PC viewer will get the URLs launched in the way that you want them to.
It seems that some DVD Players on the PC, and some operating systems are more compatible than others.
I’m starting a list of those that do and don’t seem to work – so far more don’t than do! Please add your experiences here as well.
What doesn’t seem to work:
| OS | Software player |
| Win XP Pro | Power DVD Player 6 |
| Win XP Pro | Windows media player 9 |
| Win XP Pro | Video Lan Client |
Hi, do you have a PC software or a plug-in to use dvd@cess?
Hi Stef- when you author a disc with DVD Studio Pro that uses DVD@ccess technology, the required PC files are automatically included on the root of the disc when it is created. The pC user will have to install the software before they have a chance of DVD@ccess working for them. A word of warning – DVD@ccess is so flaky it is probably better not to use it.