Real suing Microsoft - here we go again!

karavite

Registered
Hello - saw this in the NY Times today:

"RealNetworks Accuses Microsoft of Restricting Competition"
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/19/technology/19soft.html

In a nutshell, RealNetworks is suing MS over business practices with Windows Media Player - very similar to the old browser issues, MS seems to be claiming issues of OS integration between the media player and Windows while it squeezes Real off the desktop.

This got me thinking about a question to all out macosx tech gods and gurus - how "integral" is QuickTime to OS X? Is it more so, less so? Does it even need to be if it is or isn't? How can this be compared to some of the MS claims/issues? Please tell us what you know or think about this!

IMO as a user Apple provides QuickTime and even iTunes and Safari in a nice and convenient way that in no way forces me to use them for my media purposes. Actually, I use them all including Real and WMP.
 
I don't like realplayer, but good tehy sue M$.

Actually i odn't use win mediaplayer either.

On macs, there is kind of, more choise. quiktime is in the system, but i rarely use it. I like VLC more, so e.g. I like many divX or .avi format movies - and VLC shows more of them corerctly than quiktime. ;)
 
I may be wrong, but it seems that the difference is that you can easily remove software that Apple pre-installs with the system. You can easily remove iTunes, Safari, Sherlock, Mail, etc.

Removing Media Player from Windows is a pain in the @ss... not even worth trying. IE is part of the OS. Windows XP picture viewer is a pain to override, just like Messenger (even though the service pack will let you "uninstall it" it just removes it from your taskbar and start menu, not the computer). I have a text file in my Backup folder on my PC that outlines the registry and DLL hacks to remove all the XP crap for when I reinstall, not a problem with OS X.

*edit*

I recently installed Media Player is OS X and found that I don't hate it like I do the Windows version. Odd.
 
Giaguara said:
I don't like realplayer, but good tehy sue M$.

Actually i odn't use win mediaplayer either.

On macs, there is kind of, more choise. quiktime is in the system, but i rarely use it. I like VLC more, so e.g. I like many divX or .avi format movies - and VLC shows more of them corerctly than quiktime. ;)
QuickTime is integral to the MacOS X. The QuickTime player is not. Virtually every MacOS X or MacOS Classic document editor is Quicktime-enabled to one degree or other. For instance, M$ Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can all display QuickTime media content. With few exceptions, media content is not restricted to the QuickTime player. Sorensen is an exception. Sorensen's codec is restricted to the QuickTime player, but that is Sorensen's choice, not Apple's.

QuickTime does not lock out third party content. If M$ wanted to do so, it could produce a Windows Media codec(s) rather than requiring a separate standalone player. Real can do the same thing.
 
Thanks MisterMe - that is what I was looking for! I wish you could tell us more, but I'm sure you are busy.
 
yeah just like misterme said Quicktime is in the operating system (thats why you can preview .mov movies in "get info")
 
I think the quicktime player is a good option to distribute on cd's for customers who need to view your media without spending the time to download the application or buy additional software that supports the codec.
 
The issue is also the Monopoly of Windows. It's not illegal to BE a monopoly but it's illegal to use that monopoly power to create another monopoly.

So, they're using Windows to create a WMP monopoly.

Quicktime could be locked into OS X moreso than WMP but it'd be just fine until the point where OS X reaches a monopoly.


Although...I don't know if the case could be made that Apple has a monopoly over the OS of Apple computers...
 
This is an interesting side-note to the story taken from IBM's internal news:

And note that the suit was filed in Silicon Valley although both Microsoft and RealNetworks are based near Seattle. Moving the suit out of a region where Microsoft is a major employer makes sense. And the Valley is no hotbed of pro-Microsoft sentiment.
 
Now, I don't know the legal issues involved, but Real can blame themselves. I used to love 'em, but have you tried to use RealPlayer recently? Let alone DOWNLOAD it? I gave up on the download part since they required me to register everything from credit card number to my parents' social security numbers to get the "free" player. Now I shun Real files like the devil.

(Disclaimer: Exaggerations and typos may have occured)
 
voice- said:
I used to love 'em, but have you tried to use RealPlayer recently? Let alone DOWNLOAD it?

The link to the free player is at the top right of real.com. The player is a self-contained, drag-install, G4-optimized package developed specifically for Mac OS X.
 
thanks for this pointer grobbins, but I think voice is on to something - Real seems to make it very hard to find that link and distract users into getting the pay version. I would bet they designed their site this way on purpose. Either that or they have some really poor usability/site designers.
 
karavite said:
thanks for this pointer grobbins, but I think voice is on to something - Real seems to make it very hard to find that link and distract users into getting the pay version. I would bet they designed their site this way on purpose. Either that or they have some really poor usability/site designers.
Think about it: how is Real going to make money, advertising? Windows Media Player is backed by Microsoft, and Quicktime Player is backed by Apple; both are large corporations that make their money elsewhere. Real wants you to upgrade because that's a substantial part of their income.

The problem is that their player sucks and the quality of Real files sucks.
 
Arden said:
The problem is that their player sucks and the quality of Real files sucks.

The quality of the video just depends on how much the producer compresses the content when encoding it, and how good the internet connection is.

What problem have you had with RealOne Player for Mac OS X? It's a drag install, Mac OS X-native, and optimized for Mac video hardware and G4/AltiVec processors.
 
I haven't used RealOne extensively, if at all, in OS X, but I abhor the previous versions. The interface is ugly, usually the movies suck (MPEG-4 can do much better with better compression than a comparative RM file), and I've had the player freeze my computer on more than one occasion. Hence, I avoid Real unless absolutely necessary.
 
Arden said:
I haven't used RealOne extensively, if at all, in OS X, but I abhor the previous versions.

Previous versions are four years old. They have little in common with RealOne Player for Mac OS X.
 
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