Re: Rob Glaser's note about realnetwork problems

[Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>]

At 01:30 PM 7/27/98 -0400, unsafe at any speed wrote:
 
>Here's my interpretation after reading the two pages:
>
>Microsoft wants there to be a unified streaming media standard, and they
>want the Windows Media Player to be the default player for that standard
>to "make the consumer experience simpler and more satisfying."

Not correct. In fact, the Windows Media Player supports several different
formats for streaming media. The only thing they want to be dominant is
their PLAYER.... Which short-circuits other companies' products.

>It looks like Media Player's default behaviour is to step on whatever was
>there before, but it specifically looks for RealPlayer 4 and 5 to avoid
>stepping on them because it knows it can't play files in their formats.

Not quite correct. The Windows Media Player CAN play the RealPlayer 4 format,
since Microsoft licensed the technology to do so from Real Networks. However,
it disables the NON-FREE version of the RealPlayer when playing the RealPlayer
4.0 format, thus depriving consumers of the benefit of the $30 they paid to
get 
an enhanced player. This deprives Real Networks of a legitimate revenue
stream.

>And because G2 is new beta software, Media Player's install hasn't yet
>been updated to avoid stepping on that too.

Not true. Media Player's install steps on RealPlayer 5.0 *and* the G2
software, both in the same way. Microsoft claims that this is due to a bug
in RealPlayer, but it's not.

--Brett