Linspire Now Natively Supports Windows Media 9

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041118/lath026_1.html' target='_blank'>http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041118/lath026_1.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Beginning immediately, all Linspire versions in all languages will include Windows Media support -- users will now have in-line playback of audio and video on popular sites like FoxNews.com and Movies.com, all with codecs legally licensed and fully integrated for the Linspire operating system. With this distribution, Linspire is the first Linux distributor in the world to fully support Windows Media 8 and 9 audio and video file formats. "Fully supporting Windows Media files means Linspire users have instant gratification when they want to watch a video embedded in a Web site or hear a clip of a hot new song," said Michael Robertson, CEO of Linspire, Inc. "This new capability gives desktop Linux functionality critical to satisfying mainstream consumers."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/linspire_wm.jpg" /><br /><br />It's a start, but this doesn't include the DRM parts of Windows Media. Seems like Microsoft, much like Apple, is only interested in keeping the DRM to themselves. :roll: Just as Apple should allow Fairplay on Windows and Linux, Microsoft should allow Janus on Mac OS and Linux.

[phillypocket]

I guess my question would be why? Without saying whether they should or not, what's the business justification for licensing Janus to the reletively tiny, hostile linux desktop market. That's like arguing that apple should provide fairplay to real. Why? What's in it for them? Where the real (no pun intended) benefit. Part of the advantage of going with windows is that microsoft took the time, effort, and expense to work with the media companies to come up with a workable solution for the common man. So did apple. Why should they give this effort away. To me this is a competitve advantage. It's part of why I use the windows platform and not linux. or be. or minix. or osx. or solaris. ....

[James Fee]

The justification is the consumer. We should be able to play our music where we want and on whatever platform we choose. Why should a U2 fan be forced to buy their Music on iTunes or AC/DC fans be forced to buy from MSN Music?

[phillypocket]

You missed my point. We know what's in it for you. What's in it for them. What's their motivation. Can you make a business case that apple and microsoft would care about. Your needs actually appear at odds with theirs to me. They both want reasons for you to choose their platfom, and at this point in the digital music game I think that makes good business sense. I would think that you should confront the artist or the record company for doing exclusive deals and exluding you from their fanbase.

Perhaps at some point either microsoft and apple will feel that they have convinced everyone their going to to choose their drm platform for content and then they'll open up to get money from the others. But I think it's more likely that musicians will want to reach more fans and record companies will want to sell more music and will encourage apple and microsoft to embrace other platforms sooner than they would otherwise.

But I don't think that will be next month. Or next year.

[James Fee]

I understand your point, but it is the consumer that decides what wins and right now they are choosing the iPod.

[sylvangale]

Apple's Ipod only has 10% marketshare in the digital music market...

Mac News Network
http://www.macnn.com/news/24855

Business Week (source of Mac News article)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2004/tc20040527_8900_tc056.htm

[James Fee]

Apple's Ipod only has 10% marketshare in the digital music market...

Mac News Network
http://www.macnn.com/news/24855

Business Week (source of Mac News article)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2004/tc20040527_8900_tc056.htm

Thanks for the dated articles.... :roll:

We were talking about music downloads, not hardware, but how about something from this week?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/18/creative_vs_apple/

Apple took 42 per cent of the US digital music player retail market in August, according to research company NPD. Its share rises to a dominating 82 per cent when you focus on the hard drive segment.All those iPod users are locked into iTunes for their downloads and unlike Microsoft, you can use iTunes on both Mac and PC.

This is much bigger than music though, Video downloads are the future and if Microsoft wants to make money off of them, they need Linux and Mac OS solutions. Small market share aside, the average Linux or Mac OS user is more likely to download music than the average Windows "AOL User".

[sylvangale]

We were talking about music downloads, not hardware

But you said this:

I understand your point, but it is the consumer that decides what wins and right now they are choosing the iPod.

I was responding to the blanket statement that consumers are choosing the iPod and so posted articles on Ipod marketshare. Maybe you meant Itunes, but I saw "The Ipod" and I responded in kind.


Thanks for the dated articles....

The business week article discussed Apples market share as of the 2nd quarter of this year.


how about something from this week?

Your article reflecting 3rd quarter results for apple merely mentions "hard drive" base digital media percentages, but if you take the data from business week Apple sold only 3.7 million Ipods in the 3rd quarter from 3.2 million Ipods in the 2nd quarter which would still stick them around the 10% figure of world market share.

Here's another article which came out the next day:

Apple Delisted from Tokyo's Stock Exchange
http://www.macobserver.com/stockwatch/2004/11/18.1.shtml


A lot of people like to pitch the Ipod as the de facto digital media player of the day, but it isn't quite true. If when comparing hard drive players in the US market only you can say it has 80-90% market share, add flash players it drops to 40-50% market share, add everything else (MD/CD/phone/non-flash) it drops to 20-30%... US. Add in the world and it really has competition.

[phillypocket]

I understand your point, but it is the consumer that decides what wins and right now they are choosing the iPod.

Where did this come from :?:

I thought we were discussing limitations that both platforms share, not your prefernce for an ipod? I'd still really like to see a business reason for what you want. I'm not trying to be argumentive, but I'f we could form a sound business arguement then maybe we could sway the companies. So far I don't see it. But I'm only one person.

[RenesisX]

It's a start, but this doesn't include the DRM parts of Windows Media. Seems like Microsoft, much like Apple, is only interested in keeping the DRM to themselves. :roll: Just as Apple should allow Fairplay on Windows and Linux, Microsoft should allow Janus on Mac OS and Linux.

Don't jump to conclusions like that.

The DRM is a much more complicated beast to port between platforms as it includes a large amount of platform-specific code. It would be a large undertaking to port the consumer-facing parts of WMDRM to Linux and still manage to keep the key-store safe from crackers.

WMDRM has been ported to other platforms though, for embedded devices, and that includes a prototype I know of running Linux.

I would not imagine Microsoft are holding it back, I would imagine that Linspire found it too big a project for too little benefit to port the DRM. It's in Microsoft's interests to get the DRM on as many platforms as possible.

> Chaz &lt;
Microsoft Digital Media MVP ;)