RealNetworks Sues Microsoft Over Antitrust Issues 491
jamacdon writes "Yahoo! has an article about RealNetworks Inc. filing an antitrust suit against Microsoft, claiming that MS has violated antitrust laws. This claim appears to revolve around how PC makers are restricted from including competing media players. Very similiar to the Internet Explorer issue, but different content. Will the results be the same?"
It might werk. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It might werk. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It might werk. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It might werk. (Score:2, Informative)
No, it stays aroound forever, no matter what you do... It just hides when you tell it to go away.
Go uninstall WMP, and then install any application that depends on WMP... Yup, WMP is still around.
Re:It might werk.... DONT CLICK ON THAT LINK! (Score:4, Informative)
[mods shouldn't mod your stupid sig up along with you insightful comment.]
Re:It might werk. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It might werk. (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you know that for sure? Have you seen the OEM agreements?
Re:It might werk. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It might werk. (Score:5, Informative)
OTH, I do not even bother with WMP anymore. Nine times of ten there is a message about a needed update, a needed verification, or some website that must be consulted. WMP is wonderful at delivering eyeballs to advertisers to or 'protecting' digital content. As far as efficiently delivering good enough content to consumers, it fails totally.
And I understand you may be talking about image quality or sound quality, but that is why I have quicktime.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
WMP suits me fine. (Score:5, Funny)
Case in point.
Re:It might werk. (Score:4, Informative)
Contrast this with Real: annoying to install(in one window, options that are on by default are listed BELOW disabled options, hiding them from view; no install-time option to disable the system tray icon), slower, more crash-prone...
There's no reason to use Real over WMP on a Windows platform except to view Real content. Real content sucks anyway compared to DivX, XVid, QT, or MPG, but fortunately it has been on the decline for a long time. We can only hope that it disappears completely.
The above is less true for QT, but since WMP is at least as good(I like it better -- less fluff), there's no reason to use it either except to play QT content. If it weren't for Real/QT[1] codec issues I could ditch both of their players completely. Mplayer on Linux supports all of them out of the box, thanks to whoever wrote the ebuild.
Re:It might werk. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It might werk. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It might werk. (Score:2, Insightful)
You mean the tried-and-true approach of making a better product, then bundling it with Windows?
Maybe if WMP played Real's format I'd see the point of this case, but I can't help but feel like we're seeing a company frustrated because they're losing.
Re:It might werk. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It might werk. (Score:3, Insightful)
Real has done the same thing. They also have lousy history of abusing customer privacy. And it's nearly impossible to remove it from my system, which arrived with it pre-installed.
Do I get to sue them now too?
RealPlayer lost because it is inferior (Score:5, Informative)
I disagree...
Have any of you used RealPlayer lately? While WMP 9 has been getting more and more functional in terms of quality and features (surround-sound media formats, HD-quality video, built-in ripping and encoding, a usable Media Library), RealPlayer has become progressively bloated, ad-ridden, and full of spy-ware. The fact that I have to search through the registry to disable the stupid "Real Message Center" background app is infuriating to me, and is the major reason why I avoid it and tell others to do the same.
First of all, why must the two be mutually exclusive? I have both of them installed on my PC quite happily. When I double-click on a RealMedia file, the Windows Shell launches RealPlayer. When I double-click on a WindowsMedia file, the shell launches WMP 9. How is this "lock-out"?
Second of all, how can there really be "lock-out" when there is so much competition in the Media Player market? Aside from iTunes for Windows, there is also Winamp 2/3/5, QuickTime, Sonique, Media Player Classic, and several other lesser-known ones. They all work great on Windows, and co-exist just fine with Media Player.
The only argument I see here is Real whining that Microsoft should have to distribute RealPlayer for them. In other words, Media Player has an unfair advantage because it ships with Windows. Well, duh. But now the government should protect RealPlayer because it is not installed with Windows?
Here's a suggestion for Real: Make a better player, and you'll gain market share the old-fashioned way. Through customers who WANT to use your software, not just because it's there.
Re:RealPlayer lost because it is inferior (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, um, yes.
This wouldn't be an issue if Windows wasn't such a huge percentage of the market. But what anti-trust consists of is using market leverage against competitors in a manner that they can't compete with.
Fact is, MS would be able to happily carry on with behavior like this if Linux and MacOS grabbed a bunch of market share. Give them each, say, 20%, and bundling non-OS-related products with Windows is no longer an antitrust issue. But as long as the market is such that you have a hard time getting around having Windows, then it is unfair competition for MS to bundle other products with it.
And you're right, that Real needs to improve their quality, or winning the suit still won't improve their sales... but back when Netscape was still better than IE, I knew a lot of people who liked NS better but "didn't bother" because they already had IE. Then Netscape couldn't sell anything anymore, and then they started to suck.
Hm, maybe Real can convince a judge that *they* didn't suck until MS did this to them. It's conceivable... a long time ago I used RealPlayer without making a mess of my computer...
Re:RealPlayer lost because it is inferior (Score:5, Informative)
Isn't that the point? That Microsoft doesn't make any money out of WMP, while Real's business is selling their player software and subscription? Microsoft can jack up price for Windows because they are a monopoly, they can literally enforce that OEMs don't negotiate with Real and forbid them to distribute RealPlayer while theirs comes preinstalled. Those facts are very close to Netscape's case.
How is this relevant? You are saying "I don't like RealPlayer, therefore, laws should not apply." It's irrelevant whether you think RealPlayer is good software or not, or whether you recommend others to use it. That doesn't prevent Real from defending its rights when others abuse it.
Also exactly the case with Netscape which could easily be installed next to IE. That's not the issue. I am guessing one of the main issues would be whether MS is locking out RealPlayer by forcing OEMs not to negotiate with Real.
You are getting this all wrong. Not Microsoft. They are likely complaining that they can't enter into contracts and arrangements with OEMs because MS forcefully forbids OEMs to do so. That would be a misapplication of MS' monopoly power with their Windows OS.
You don't get it. (Score:3, Insightful)
How can thick heads like yours grasp that idea? What other evidence of top of software compression (Stacker), browser (Netscape), Java (broken JAva VM machine) and now this do you need before you stop tht most stupidiest of excuses: the market hath spoken. Well, yes, chose head or tail, my secret is that the coin I am throwing has only two heads. That is your choice.
MS should and is not free to put whatever they want in the OS because they
Will the result be the same? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:4, Informative)
(Emphasis mine.) They were still very much alive when the lawsuit was started, however. Netscape was synonymous with the web for quite awhile there. It's funny how you say "netscape" now and people look at you like "what's that?"
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:3, Interesting)
True, but don't forget about other MS activities. Like bundling agreements with OEMs, who charged you for Windows even if you didn't want it or have them install it. (If they were even allo
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:3, Interesting)
So by the same token, Real is screwed because WMP is part of the OS?
If MS puts Money into the OS, then Quicken is out of luck? What about if they start bundling their own PDF writer... Adobe ha
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:3, Informative)
No. The PDF specifications have been basically open since more or less the very beginning. While they hold patents on the specification, they give the right to use the specs royalty free [cpan.org].
True enough, but the majority of people who buy Acrobat only care about creating PDFs. I don't know about the latest versions, but v4.x absolutel
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:5, Insightful)
As an aside, did Microsoft ever charge Mac users for IE?
No, but that's an entirely different product. IE for Windows was never free. IE for Mac was. In fact, NOTHING Microsoft gives for free for Windows is actually really being given away gratis. From a wheres-the-money-going point of view, there is zero difference between bundling A with B and charging $X for the bundle, versus giving A away for free when it requires the non-gratis product B that costs $X. As long as the "free" product requires the purchase of a non-free associated product, it's cost is bundled in with it, and that's where the company is recouping the costs.
Re:Will the result be the same? (Score:3, Insightful)
But isn't the point being, that when your product is facing a zero-cost alternative being subsidised by alternative revenue sources you do not have, there IS no way to adapt that would allow survival?
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Dear Real (Score:5, Funny)
We still remember when you were selling our personal data. So even if we could get your player preinstalled in our computers, it would be the first to be removed.
Your player is complete bloatware with one of the most misleading installs ever. thanks for the headache you rat bastards.
Re:Dear Real (Score:2)
Re:Dear Real (Score:5, Interesting)
Forget It. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Forget It. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Forget It. (Score:2)
Netscape's case wasn't so strong.
Re:Forget It. (Score:3, Funny)
Blah. Who to root for? (Score:5, Funny)
Is there a scenario where both can lose?
Here's to hoping that the courthouse explodes.
Tal
Re:Blah. Who to root for? (Score:5, Interesting)
Y'know, I just pondered this for a moment, and find it somewhat odd...
Years ago, back in the prime of the dialup days, we just couldn't hate any company more than AOL. Anything involving them might as well have had leprosy, as far as geeks felt.
And yet now, with this tossup (WMP vs RealOne), I just realized that I currently use both a browser (Mozilla) and a media player (WinAmp) heavily funded by AOL.
Strange, how times can change. And yet, if you asked me my general opinion of AOL, I'd still say they suck - But I suppose I have to thank them for sponsoring two pretty nice programs.
Scary thought - Perhaps some day, we'll have to thank (gasp!) Microsoft for creating something nice for us? Eeeek. Time to go hide under the bed for a while.
Re:Blah. Who to root for? (Score:3, Interesting)
Companies change. (Score:3, Informative)
And yet now, with this tossup (WMP vs RealOne), I just realized that I currently use both a browser (Mozilla) and a media player (WinAmp) heavily funded by AOL.
Strange, how times can change.
Plenty of precedent for this.
For instance: Back before home computers, when minicomputers were young (and expensive), IBM was the monster.
Re:Blah. Who to root for? (Score:4, Informative)
I was working for a small fragment of Turner Broadcasting (owned by Time Warner) when the AOLTW merger happened. And I have to say from that experience, and from what else I've seen of AOL, they're not really evil. Chaotic Neutral, maybe.
Here's the thing... their main product sucks. It's dumped tons of people onto the internet that maybe we'd rather not have there. They've done their best to be the biggest, but mostly by littering our mailboxes, magazines, point-of-purchase displays, and what-have-you with coasters-I-mean-CDs.... which costs them money as much as it's a hassle for us.
They treat their employees fairly well, and have a basically honest and moral business philosophy. Their dealings with Time Warner, which were overly optimistic and misguided on both sides, were still up-front and didn't give me any ooky feeling. When we were directed to install AOL on every single computer in our office (bad, bad idea, and one they finally gave up on), their techs commiserated with ours over the difficulties of installing AOL in a network environment (the 6.0 install would hang if there was a network card installed. Always. Unless you installed 5.0 first.)
They're sort of like Electronic Arts... nice company to work for (in some ways), but I wouldn't want to do business with them. Though with AOL it seems to be general ineptitude balanced by blind luck, rather than anything malicious.
Why, YES! They're playing it out now. (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there a scenario where both can lose?
Yes.
They could take it to court.
B-)
Incompetent DOJ (Score:5, Interesting)
Ask yourself, how FAIR can competition be when one application gets deep penetration into the consumer market while others are locked out on purpose?
Microsoft suddenly everyone's positive cash flow? (Score:2, Insightful)
Whats REAL going to claim in court? That their software is better than Windows Media? Get real, I don't think even the most anti-MS zealot could make that claim with a straight face. I spent half a day ridding my machines of Real Software, let alone trying to stop their damn spam afterward.
Oh, lest I forget, it is eveel
Re:Microsoft suddenly everyone's positive cash flo (Score:4, Informative)
Real, at least for their server software is (or was...) almost entirely a Linux shop. Real helped Linux make inroads into the server market at a LOT of companies. I'm still under NDA so I'm only mentioning two of the ones I could find press releases for quickly, but this includes companies with great big satelite networks (PanAmSat for one), a couple of great big phone companies (like Deutshce Telecom)...
Real also helped a lot in the fight to get Linux drivers for a whole bunch of video capture cards...
...doesn't excuse the shit they pulled, but...
Re:Microsoft suddenly everyone's positive cash flo (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think even the most anti-MS zealot could make that claim with a straight face.
Real player sure works a lot better on my computer than Windows Media Player. In fact, it works an infinite percent better becuase WMP won't run at all.
Of course, I'm not using Windows.
Granted, that might look like zealotry, but that just shows ignorance to call it that. The fact of the matter is that one works (although, yes, it really is bad) and the other fails to do anything at all.
Re:Incompetent DOJ (Score:3, Insightful)
It was no coincidence that the last Microsoft antitrust suit had its legs kicked out from under it by the DOJ as soon as Bush and Ashcroft took power. Microsoft is a sacred cow to the Bush administration and nothing is going to be done to hinder
Difficult choice (Score:5, Funny)
On the other hand, the sooner real networks dies and takes their horrible, ad-driven software with them, the better.
Re:FUD!!!!!!!!1 (Score:3, Interesting)
same wine different bottle (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:same wine different bottle (Score:3, Insightful)
once you get out of jail for murder you don't have a license to kill.
forcing MS branded everything is just bad buisness (Score:2, Insightful)
and I'm sure there's more.
But the respective competitors, Netscape/Mozilla, Quicktime, AIM/Yahoo/ICQ, and WinZip suffer directly because of this.
Take Apple for instance, with Aladdinsys's Stuffit Expander. Instead of making their own, they just licensed to include Stuffit with the OS, which has undoubtedly lead to that company with good buisness.
*sigh*
-Henry
Re:forcing MS branded everything is just bad buisn (Score:3, Insightful)
God... (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft is in the wrong in this situation, but Real is worse by selling personal information, having a player that eats more than its fair share of needed memory, and including what may be spyware with its software. If this were Apple and Quicktime, I'd be more willing to go and support them on this.
Re:God... (Score:3, Informative)
No you don't. [mlin.net]
Re:God... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now real.com assumes you are running MS Windows and gives all users a MS Windows executable. For a company so worried about Microsoft's monopoly power they sure aren't doing much to prevent Microsoft from maintaining monopoly status in the OS market.
Helix (Score:4, Informative)
https://www.helixcommunity.org/ [helixcommunity.org]
again? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:again? (Score:4, Funny)
Will the results be the same? (Score:4, Insightful)
Violation of the settlement? (Score:5, Interesting)
Is that really why Real Player died out... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Is that really why Real Player died out... (Score:4, Informative)
I think that the real reason Real Player died out is more or less due to a lower quality program
That's for certain. I have Winamp, Musicmatch and iTunes on my PC, but I still refuse to load Real, even though BBC and other sites only offer video in Real format. Seems to me it will be hard to make a case for anti-trust when so many sites are exclusive to Real. Hmmm... Maybe Real is the monopolist! Seems ridiculous to accuse M$ of anti-trust issues when Dell puts Musicmatch on every consumer PC and Winamp and iTunes can be had with a few mouse clicks.
Nice and vague (Score:2, Insightful)
Lost revenue because Microsoft made an anti-trust move, or because Microsoft made a better product?
I have four words for them. (Score:5, Interesting)
Good god, I don't want them to win. I'd hate to have to remove this shit from my newly purchased PC.
Real one spyware. (Score:2, Insightful)
Dude, yer gettin' a Dell! (Score:3, Informative)
At least it's optional in the business computers. I really don't see that they have anything to complain about.
Re:Dude, yer gettin' a Dell! (Score:2, Interesting)
Real sues Microsoft for not having enough Spyware (Score:2)
We have to steal our users' privacy to make any money!
WE'LL SUE!
frivolous lawsuit (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd like to see where they could come up with "billions of dollars of damages" on a free player. What, they were going to rake in billions from their expensive encoders and streaming software? Real's out because of divx, mpeg, and quicktime, not microsoft.
And how many times have people here gone through the task of removing the real player? I think of it as the original spyware, tough to kill. You couldn't pay me to put it on my computer.
Re:frivolous lawsuit (Score:2)
* Real Alternative (Media Player Classic with the Real codecs)
* The GPL Helix Player (yes, Real Networks GPL'd a lot of the source, plus give away the binary license for their codecs).
Granted, WMP files just look nicer(tm), but this isn't about technology and formats (or their relative merits), its about allowing manufacturers to choose what they want to include on computers they are buildin
Re:frivolous lawsuit (Score:3, Informative)
It doesn't matter whether RealPlayer is crap, spyware, or what. If Microsoft used their monopoly position to strongarm PC manufacturers into not installing the product on their PCs, then this is indeed a violation of antitrust laws, and Microsoft should be prosecuted!
Pity (Score:2)
And the outcome of the court case... (Score:5, Funny)
Jury: Your honour, we find the defendant
You know a program sucks when... (Score:5, Funny)
You know a program REALLY sucks when...
Actual letter to RealNetworks (Score:5, Funny)
TO: Real Networks
SUBJECT: Fuck You All
I am holding myself back in the most intense way at the moment.
I don't care if this is the wrong address to send this to. Your website is a labyrinth of misdirection in which finding the simple thing you want is nigh-impossible. This, after about 20 clicks, was the first email address I came to. If you, as the person receiving this letter, have a shred of humanity left, you will submit this to the proper people. And now, on to my letter.
Where do you people get off?
My task: download Realplayer in order to view some streaming content. A simple project, one would say. Well, first you have to wade through the aforementioned sea of misdirection, all of it aimed at extracting your visa number to buy the completely useless realplayer plus. I realize you people need to make some money, but save it for the server business - it's bad enough that back in the day, you were inferior to several other streaming technologies, but somehow, like scum in water, you rose to the top. Leave the users who are stuck with your products out of your sick little power games.
All I want is Realplayer Basic, to play realmedia, and ONLY realmedia. I am not interested in realjukebox, realdownloadagent, or realbuttplug. I specified this when I was installing it. I also am not interested in having your inferior product play my mp3s, or any format other than your own. This was also specified when I installed. How difficult a concept is this? Anyone can grasp it. And I won't even get into the god-knows-how-many useless "subscribe to our spam service!" checkboxes I have to uncheck, including five which are HIDDEN AT THE BOTTOM OF A STACK OF UNCHECKED ONES. With each click, the bile rises higher in my throat. If I knew a satanist, I would have him summon demons to terrorize your offices.
So then, I go to launch an mp3 out of Agent, and not only does your software launch even though I SPECIFICALLY TOLD IT NOT TO DO THAT, but it's not even Realplayer - it's Realjukebox which I also SPECIFICALLY TOLD IT NOT TO INSTALL.
And here's the real point: if you're going to go ahead and do a fascist coup of my system's preferences and resources (getting your filthy little icons out of my system tray gets more difficult with each new version), why bother pretending that you are giving me a choice? Just go ahead and take it, save me the trouble of unchecking all those boxes and saying No 20 times. Just go ahead, play your little game, and let me get on with removing your annoying system resource wastes from my pristine desktop.
In closing, I would just like to say that I view your company as the most evil force operating on the internet today, and while I would end this with "may God have mercy on your souls" for anyone else (including Bill Gates), for you, I only pray that the people behind your software's design are raped by syphilitic camels at some point.
Burn in hell.
But how do you real-ly feel? (Score:3, Interesting)
I sic'd the state attorney general on them when they had a premium service with few-click signup for a free trial. To unsubscribe, there was a web page. That did nothing. After I entered my unsubscribe info, the page digested it and then gave me a phone number to call.
Completely bogus barrier to cancel. The AG contacted them, and they replied that it's an accepted practice by such paragons of virtue as AOL.
Re:Actual letter to RealNetworks (Score:3, Informative)
Send here: public_relations@real.com (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Actual letter to RealNetworks (Score:3, Funny)
Real do, however, offer a particularly useful service. They help define the line between what's acceptable to install on a work PC and what's not. Now, most of you will disagree with this, but it's based not only on privacy and annoyance but also system stability and the latest versions of Real are fairly stable: RealOne is the worst acceptable thing to install on a work PC. Don't install anything w
Am I from an alternate universe? (Score:3, Informative)
I do not work for Real, but I am a fan of the te
Anyone.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally, I think it's a bloated piece of crudware. It pops up zillions of ads for garbage, the player's slow,
Anyway, this lawsuit has no merit. My Dell laptop came preloaded with MusicMatch, WMP, and RealOne! Three video/audio players! Nobody needs that much. Standardize on maximum 2. I uninstalled RealPlayer because it was so worthless...
Consider this two thumbs way way down for Real.
Scylla or Charybdis? (Score:4, Funny)
Post dot com business 101 (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Don't piss off your customers
2. Your product, perceived or otherwise, has to be better then your competitors.
Real follows neither of these rules, and this lawsuit appears to be nothing more then a last ditch effort to gain capital. It is a reality that if a company has no other business model then to offer an inferior product and expect customers to either pay for it or suffer egregious violations of their privacy, when they are a few mouse clicks away from something better that is free, that company will fail. It's just common sense.
Normally a company run with such a bad business model would die away without notice, but Real has entrenched itself on the server end with its proprietary format. They have this because they were one of the first (if not the first) to show up with streaming audio back in the day.
I can remember responding with amazement the first time I got streaming real audio. They were the first through the door and got the brand reconciliation, bringing organizations like NPR with them with this new technology. And they squandered it away. It's sad, but it's the real world (excuse the pun).
Unless Real can come up with a technology that bests the free alternatives in quality and does so without being intrusive to the users privacy or computer system, they will die, lawsuit or otherwise.
What you pay for... (Score:5, Insightful)
Further, Windows Media Player is just an evolution and consolidation of the various CD/Wav/Video playing tools MS has been adding in including since the Windows 3.1 days, updated with newer codecs and a better UI. Windows is not cheap, and adding newer, better features is necessary for Microsoft to continue adding customers. Real never bitched back when the Windows multimedia stuff was a few different programs under "entertainment," and for them to say that Microsoft is violating antitrust laws now for providing something that consumers got used to a long time ago is just a load of crap.
Of course, I guess when you're running a company that's trying to make money selling that shitty RealOne player, you'll do anything to get the stock price up.
Does anyone LIKE real player? (Score:3, Interesting)
Do you all have long term memory loss? (Score:3, Interesting)
WMP, and IE are better, faster and less intrusive because they're funded out of revenues from something else. The coders just have to focus on making the program better. They don't have to worry about a revenue model.
Of course WMP is better than Real. That's the fucking point you bozos. Microsoft doesn't have to play by the same rules because they are funding WMP through the Microsoft tax. Real One has to make money.
The only people that can beat Microsoft are us Open Source folks because we don't worry about a revenue model either.
I'll agree that a pox on both their houses is in order, but Microsoft is abusing their monopoly in exactly the same way that they did to cut off Netscape's air supply and knife the baby.
Lawsuits, Lawsuits, Lawsuits!! (Score:3, Insightful)
EULAs; Contracts; Restrictions; DMCA; DRM; Spyware
Sneaky WMP agreements; unfixed IE insecurities; Outlook worms; No December Patches
IE Antitrust; European Commission; SCO; Now this.
All of the above have been helped along by the idea of proprietary software. Ever since I came home for Christmas to a house full of Windows machines, I have been inundated with examples of how cumbersome, expensive, restrictive, frustrating and downright ANNOYING proprietary software can be. Why do people put up with this?!
Real's suit against Microsoft is among these examples. MS wants a closed, system where All The World is a Windows PC, and RealNetworks needs to make money with its proprietary media player. And because megacorporations are often without conscience, Real has no recourse but to sue these monopolists!
The longer I watch the Industry, the more proprietary software strikes me as the runaway train fueled by the residual billionaires of IT's infancy. The computer industry has been riddled all its life with IP infringement lawsuits. Open-Source can serve as the step to maturity that gets us out of that ludicrous, litigous business model.
It's just a media player... (Score:3, Interesting)
And browsers, everybody needs a browser, so who cares. Netscape can go out of business.
And CD burning software, everybody needs that these days. Ahead can go out of business.
Office software? Everybody needs that, so Corel and Lotus can go out of business.
Microsoft should simply bundle MS Office with Windows and save us another purchase. Oh, most OEM's do that already?
Games? Heck, Microsoft makes those too! Why do we need other companies for games and consoles?
Movies? Everybody watches movies, Microsoft should develop a way to watch hi-res digital movies! Oh, they did?
Microsoft has been looking for a CPU design team too...
At what point is the monopoly so strong that you people quit whining that it is "just application X and everyone needs it"?
Re:RealPlayer? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Probably not... (Score:5, Insightful)
RealPlayer still competes with Windows Media Player over common formats like MPEG and MP3.
Parent is a troll. (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this insightful? What exactly does the nature of Real media have to do with Microsoft's strong-arm tactics to exclude competing players using leverage of WinOS?
I dislike Real Player for many reasons, but the open/closed nature of their media has absolutely nothing to do with how it's distributed.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Parent is a troll. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Dumb questions get dumb answers (Score:2)
Re:Dumb questions get dumb answers (Score:2)
Here what he got from M$ while he was a senator
Before you start playing a partisan card, do your research.
Re:Dumb questions get dumb answers (Score:2)
Re:This is stupid. (Score:5, Informative)
Otherwise, you're right, this would be absurd. If the actual accusation were in fact the case, this would be essentially a smaller "browser war," but it clearly is not, as many Dell customers on Slashdot have attested.