It seems that Microsoft has not only removed Windows Media Center from Windows 10, but will charge users $15 to restore its functionality.

I think Ars Technica's theory that this is about offsetting DVD format licensing fees in a free upgrade is probably correct. Apple of course provides all its operating systems for free, but since none of its computers include optical drives any more, maybe it's not affected. Even when Macs did have DVD drives, I assume the license fee was covered by the hardware.

What is more significant to my mind how long it took after the release of Windows 10 for this to come to light. It's yet another sign of the death of physical media.