As part of its effort to assuage European authorities, Microsoft has made changes to its Windows XP N–the slimmed-down version of the operating system it was ordered to offer last year.
Microsoft updates slimmed-down Windows
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This is all a little bit futile really isn’t it.
the article says
The software will be available in Home and Professional editions and is priced the same as the full-featured versions.
so basically whats the point.
people who are aware of such issues are most likely to install their favorite media player after a fresh install & others well they don’t care they just wanna play that damn mp3 file & embeded media in a webpage
also love the new name,
Remove WordPad, Explorer, Notepad, Paint, MSN Messanger, and Freecell – they are also using anti-competitive strategies to push these products through.
Seriously, why are they angry with WMP and don’t mind all the other stuff bundled with Windows?
The point is that by having to provide a version without some parts integrated they will not be able to have an excuse later on that they can’t remove this part as it is part of the OS. Remember what happened with IE? At first it was separate from the OS, as it should also be now, so we would be able to get rid of it. But then MS decided it will make it part of the OS so they can force it upon all users. So the order to have a Windows version without some parts integrated is a way to ensuring the same unfortunate thing that happened with IE. Too bad EU wasn’t there before to prevent IE integration.
for us people who live in Europe.
Don’t get me wrong, I cannot stand Microsoft, and do not use any of their products anymore….
But this whole thing is complete bollocks, Microsoft should not have been vilified by the EU just for including its own products inside one of its products, if they had made sure competitors stuff could be installed.
If I used XP, I would want to play all the media files in my collection, using Winamp, Realplayer, and maybe the Zoom player. Microsoft have NO RIGHT to stop me…..Emmmmm, thats right, they didn’t… I can still install them.
What the EU should have made Microsoft do is this, the first time someone starts WMP, a pop-up appears mentioning the other software available from competitors.. Then the pop-up is deleted, the user is “aware”… Nuff said.
The most important thing to Microsoft is the BRANDING……
The only part of IE that is integrated is the rendering engine, the browser itself is not integrated. Now, had Micrsoft not made a browser to use there newly integrated rendering engine with, they would have had no trouble at all, even though the same browser core is still there.(which renders many different UI functions, as is done with EVERY SINGLE other major UI because like it or not, it was a good idea that Microsoft came up with).
There is no reason why, as you put it, the “browser” should be removed the OS, as it is standard practice to use HTML in UI’s. Now, you can remove just the browser part without effect anything… is this what you are wanting to remove? What’s the point?
What you are not aware of is that people can actually be FORCED to use WMP.
Don’t believe me? Go to RaiClick, the broadband content of the RAI, the Italian State television:
http://www.raiclicktv.it/raiclick/pc/website/
And try to watch anything with a player other than WMP
Especially true if you are using linux. And the usual trick of using Kaffeine or Mplayer with w32codecs doesn’t work, no way.
Do you even know what this is about?
When MS bundles software, they can take out an industry.
1) How many people actually know that other browsers exist? MS bundled IE with windows (in addition to intergrating it) to take on Netscape. At one point Netscape had 70-80 percent market share. They put Netscape out of buiness. The name and so forth was picked up by AOL/Time Warner. Now, how much development has MS put into IE? Just about nothing until competition started heating up with some OSS browsers. Now IE gets:
a) Popup blocking
b) Future editions will have tabs
I have had thsese features for years.
2) Now MS is trying to compete with Real and others. Now most people won’t even entertain the thought of another product due to it being bundled in the OS. Once the companies that make various players hit the (financial) ropes, do you think there will be an new things coming out of Redmond? Side note: Try removing WMP or IE from windows or outlook express. You cannot, because thats the way MS wants it. This is being done for business reasons not technical reasons.
3) Think about Anti-Spyware, its going to be bundled in LongHorn. Do you think people will actually go out and buy any anti-spyware from another company? No, because its installed. On a side note, have you ever bought a PC without windows? You can’t even make that purchase. The only systems that you can buy without an OS are:
a) Servers
b) Barebone systems
4) Think Anti-Virus. When MS bundles that into the OS, are you going to buy Symantek or McAfee? Probably not. Where do you think all the A/V reasearch and development is being initiated. Sorry to say, MS isn’t a cutting edge company and if they take over the A/V field, then that is going to spell trouble. MS isn’t an innovator, they acquire companies and products.
Anti-Spyware = Giant
Anti-Virus = Rave
Internet Explorer = Spyglass
What will the end result be after all these programs get intergrated into the OS.
a) It will be a more expensive OS.
b) Increased size, disk space, processing power.
c) Less competition in the market (actually none).
As for those that say:
Why should MS be punished for making a product better.
Well they shouldn’t be punished for making a product better, they should be punished for anti-competitive behavior. Think about it, there is no technical reason to intergrate:
1) Browser
2) Media Player
3) Email Client
4) Anit-Spyware (soon)
5) Anti-Virus (soon)
in an operating system. When MS controls the market, do you think that they will be charging a fair price for their products?
MS has a history of undercutting prices against the competition, once out of buiness, then they raise the prices of products.
Now what about buying a new PC? Its got windows installed. Why should I have to buy a PC with/MS installed if I prefer to run something else. PC’s were pre-loaded under the guise of reducing piracy of MS OS. You would think that the:
1) Serial number
2) Online registration
would have cured their piracy of their OS and Office. This has a major impact on piracy. Now, let me ask, why do I need a PC with windows pre-installed?
Its called monopoly power at its finest.
When we can have an anti- trust case to remove WMP out of Windows so that Real and others dont feel suffocated ; why can’t the same be done with IE so that Firefox and Opera have an equal chance?
Nobody bitches at all that Ford installs a Ford ‘media player’ into their cars. Nobody complains that they are forced to use it. Nobody complains that this hurts the 3rd party car stereo manufacturers. Nobody says that this is an immoral and illegal monopolistic act. “But you can easily remove the stereo and install another one so it’s not the same!”, really? Have you seen the oval stereos with integrated heater controls that they installed on the mid-late 90’s Taurus? It’s not very easy to swap that out. People seem to freak out when it comes to Microsoft or even software in general, without thinking about what’s been going on in other industries for years.
It’s simple. Microsoft are agreeing to do this so that they have one OS that nobody pirated EVER!! I’m pretty sure there are at least 4 perverts who downloaded ME for “fun” but this one will be left well alone!
1)Anyone who doesn’t know other browsers exist most likely isn’t capable of installing most other software, this covers media players, antivirus, firewalls, and spyware removers.
2) real is spyware.
3) most users don’t know what spyware is, having it bundled with the os will give them some level of protection.
4) antivirus, anyone who has a clue uses avg and common sense to avoid viruses, businesses are the primary market for AV software, and yearly liscenses for home software, Symantec and McAfee can go $*&@ themselves
Ok for integrating these into the os
a) longhorn will most likely be more expensive with or without these items being integrated
b) what is the difference in disk space and processing power between integrated software and installing seperate packages for each item, i’m wiling to bet integrating will be slightely more efficient
c) less competition in general use computers means less confusion for the common user
does any os maker charge a fair price, MS yes they are expensive up front, but incremental upgrades are free
Apple ~$130 every 12-18 months for a v0.1 upgrade, note I was planning to buy a 15″ powerbook within the next 3-6 months but now i’ll be waiting for the intel based notebooks to arrive (and now we know what the “i” prefix stands for it was all a scheme to get mac users ready for the switch ok that is just my conspiracy theory but i’m sticking to it)
linux, most distributions i have played with should have reimbursed me for the time i wasted downloading and instaling them, there are a few good ones but nothing that can replace windows for my everyday use i play a lot of RTS games in addition to work and general use dual booting is possible but a pain in the ass.
there may be no technical reason to bundle software however there is the convenience of only needing to go to one place for all updates
And as far as buying a system without an os if your inclined enough to use linux or other oss you can build your own system and save a ton of cash, try buying an mac without the os, yes it is also difficult to buy any notebook without an os but it can be done, if your that upset about buy used.
I’m not a big fan of MS, or any other big corporation for that matter, but don’t bash them for serving a market need the simple truth is most people know enough about computers to be dangerous, this is the market they and everyone else has to cater to not the relitively small percentage of truely computer literate, hopefully this will change but not until the general public is as computer savy as your typical 10 year old
<em>Nobody bitches at all that Ford installs a Ford ‘media player’ into their cars. Nobody complains that they are forced to use it. </em>
Do 90% of car drivers use [drive] Ford?
Ford isn’t a monopoly in car production. If it was, and they would be forcing people to use the bundled stereos, what would other car stereo manufacturers say?
@ Anonymous (IP: —.chcgilgm.dynamic.covad.net)
Well, you can actually get a PC without Windows.
I’ve assembled all of my PCs (and my friends’ PCs) from spare parts and Windows doesn’t come bundled with either processors or motherboards or harddrives.
Better still (at least here in Russia) cheap (and even some not-so-cheap) PCs come with Linux or some weird OS like PTS-DOS installed or without any OS at all, so there isn’t any Microsoft tax included.
Users have the option either to install a pirated copy of Windows purchased for $2.5 at any warez shop, or they can stick with Linux which has quite a lot of software included.
Or at some shops you can have a pirated copy of Windows installed with your PC purchase.
There’s no Dell or HP (at least I’ve never seen any of these anywhere!), and Apple is a thing which people admire but never buy. I’ve never seen Apple anywhere except in shops.
I’m the only person I know who’s using legal software (Ubuntu 5.04), all my friends and relatives use pirated stuff. Some even don’t know what “legal software” means =)
It appears that as Windows loses its features, Linux looks more and more easy to install and mantain. Some Linux distributions (iRU Linux for example) require you to insert the CD, boot from it and click “install”. After half an hour you have a completely working OS with an office suite, a graphical editor, a compiler, music player (now that Windows doesn’t have it) & lots more stuff. However I have to admit that Linux isn’t good enough when it comes to proprietary software like games and advanced apps. Each distro has its own packaging system so software companies either have to release lots of packages for every distro out there or use their own weird installation system (like nVidia or Quake3 or Doom3 for example).
Last time I checked, you can use a Mac or use Linux, so no, MS is not a monopoly. Extremely successful? Absolutely, but that is what capitalism is about, sorry. This is just another example of people getting pissed off at MS for being too damn good at capitalism.
I think it is absolutely absurd to expect Microsoft to be forced to release a version of Windows without the media player. I’m all for the fight against Microsoft, and I support alternate operating systems, but why is it ok for Apple or Linux distributions to offer a media player, while Microsoft may not?
Because MS is using its monopoly status in operating systems to gain monopoly status in other areas. Look at the IE example – they crushed Netscape just because IE was bundled with Windows, not because IE wassignificantly better than Netscape.
@ AirIntake: you can use Mac or Linux, but there are lots of things you can do ONLY on Windows, and only because developers consider Windows to be more popular among users. And why is Windows more popular? Because developers think it’s more popular!
And with WMP & stuff they’re adding internal cycles to that infinite loop.
boredofthesane: And when you install Linux you have an option which of the many media players to install, if any at all. And because Linux and players and everything is open source every developer of alternate media player has the same (and all) info about how all the parts in the OS and software work. Not so in Windows. by bundeling stuff into it MS can hide whatever they want so that only MS can use some secret functions which in turn means that only they have the capability to take adventage of it. And other developers don’t have this and Microsoft is getting even bigger monopoly and can abuse it even more.