Some manufacturers claim their CD-ROM/XA drives are CD-i compatible. They probably mean that the drives can read CD-i compatible data. That does not mean that a computer attached to their CD-ROM/XA drive can run CD-i programs.

The CD-i standard includes specifications for audio, video and computer hardware. In contrast to a CD-ROM drive, a CD-i player contains a complete computer system that runs its own operating system. For a system to be CD-i compatible, it needs to have a Motorola 68000 family central processing unit, special audio and video hardware, and a special operating system called CD-RTOS. A CD-ROM/XA drive connected to a PC or a Macintosh does not meet the CD-i specification and, thus, cannot play CD-i discs.