Microsoft has decided to kill its three-year-old PlaysForSure DRM system brand name and replace it with Certified for Windows Vista. However, "all the testing requirements for devices are the same, but instead of looking for the PlaysForSure logo to ensure compatibility, look for the Certified for Windows Vista logo."

The new designation creates confusion, especially if one remembers that Zune is also Certified for Windows Vista, but is not in fact "Certified for Windows Vista", because it does not support the formerly named PlaysForSure DRM system. However, purchased or subscription Zune Marketplace content should work with other PlaysForSure capable applications and portables.

The PlaysForSure-now- Certified for Windows Vista logo theoretically ensures that the device or service has passed over two hundred performance and interoperability requirements. These requirements include the ability to play files encoded in Windows Media Audio or Windows Media Video format with Windows Media DRM digital rights management, used by Windows Media Player versions 10 and 11.

The new renaming of PlaysForSure also means that Microsoft is forcing its 'PlayForSure' partners into marketing Vista for them. Also, it may well be that the Redmond Company tries to distance itself from the controversy-loaded name of their DRM system.

The dumbest thing about it is still that two incompatible DRM schemes are both bundled under the same banner, the Zune Certified for Windows Vista and the new Certified for Windows Vista. Also, it's quite clear that Vista is a long way from overtaking XP as the dominant version of Windows.

"So Plays for Sure is now Vista Certified. Except, isn't Zune also Vista Certified? But Zune content won't play on any other device? And what about XP owners? Do their devices stop working? How on earth do I as a consumer with an older device understand how this new branding maps to what I own?" says Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg, quoted by PCPro.