Real Networks vs. Microsoft: It's Over
Posted by Harry McCracken | Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:01 AM PT
As I type, Real and Microsoft are holding a conference call to announce that Real's $1 billion antitrust suit against Microsoft over Windows Media, filed in 2003, is over--and that the two companies will be working together.
"Working together" will involve Real's Rhapsody service being promoted through Microsoft services such as MSN, and Real providing games for MSN and for the upcoming XBox Live console.
If this collaboration turns out to be nothing more than...well, promotion and a few new games, it'll be a whimpering end to a decade-long clash.
Right now, however, Bill Gates is talking about "innovation," as is his wont. He's also saying that Microsoft will tweak its various music technologies to help Real, that Real will strongly support Windows DRM (which it's already using), and that services like MSN Search and MSN Messenger will evolve in new ways based on this agreement.
A questioner on the call just asked Rob Glaser one of the obvious questions: Does this mean that Real will kill the RealPlayer application? Glaser is saying no, it'll continue on. And Bill Gates is saying that the Real collaboration doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft won't pursue other non-Real music services.
This also provides at least a stopgap fix for the rather strange situation that currently exists: Despite having invented the much-hyped (and clever, albeit sometimes flaky) "Janus" DRM that powers portable music subscription services, Microsoft doesn't offer such a service itself. With Rhapsody sort of coming into the Microsoft fold, it'll have one.
As usual with Microsoft antitrust suits, it feels like the war ended eons before the truce was announced. There was a time when it seemed like Real's media formats might dominate the Web. But even though Real-format content is still all over the place, it's clear that Windows Media won the platform war with Real ages ago. Real segued into being a services company...and while users have sometimes reported technical glitches with its Rhapsody service, it's still one of the coolest music services out there.
So once again, Microsoft has triumphed over a smaller and more innovative company (albeit one with a history of annoying the heck out of its users; at least the current version of RealPlayer is relatively non-irritating). Fortunately for consumers who like choice, the battle between Microsoft's approach to music and Apple's take on the same subject rages on.
It'll be intriguing to see whether any of this makes life meaningfully better for music and game fans...more thoughts later.
As non-PC it may seem, I am glad Real lost that battle. Serves them right for marketing spyware in the first place. Everyone likes to hammer Microsoft (it's sort of like beating up the phone company), but their biggest sins are pandering to the masses and being good at it.
At least when they market spyware they give you the option of turning it off.
I guess we can kiss Linux support for RealPlayer goodbye soon.
I agree, and I'll say even more: Realplayer is the most annoying piece of software on my pc!
I just canceled my Rhaposdy account.
Even if Real wasn't spy happy, their products' quality is lousy.
Quick quiz: Which is the best quality to watch video on a "less than new" computer?
A. Apple's Quicktime
B. Microsoft's Windows Media Player
C. Real Player
Yeah, I figured everyone would pick A or B...
I for years was a real fan, but got sick of the ads and commercials. When they pretty much locked off the few free music and videos they offered by creating rhapsody (which introduced me to many new bands), I got sick of it and downloaded WinAMP. I reget not doing that sooner, cause it works well, very customizable, and they offer a bunch of free music to try out. Again, that open me up to a bunch of new music. Odd, cause years ago winamp was a drag. Now they are awesome. Plus, they support Linux.
I never liked Real Player or .ra or .ram format media. Its too slow and too bad quality.
I agree. I can't think many programs as annoying as RealPlayer - constantly attempting to add itself to startup program list. When I want to play Real Media content, I always use an alternative such as JetAudio or Media Player Classic that provides close to universal support without the bloat and nagging of RealPlayer.
Real player i have not been using that for the past 5 years. Windows media player has been my choice ever since it came out with a much nicer version with windows XP
FWIW, you can still find v8 of the RealPlayer to listen to stuff that requires Real's player, like NPR, etc. Works well for computers that don't have a Pentium9 7.5THz in them.
http://forms.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html
I still can't help but wanna cheer on the underdog, though, including Real, Mozilla, Apple, etc. Can there be a limit to Microsoft's domination? Geez. At least I'd like to pretend that I have some options out there.
Never liked RealPlayer, why wouldn't you use Windows Media Player. Some Microsoft haters won't even use their good products. As for the Linux whiners....
Never liked RealPlayer, why wouldn't you use Windows Media Player. Some Microsoft haters won't even use their good products. As for the Linux whiners....
Real Media is a lot of crap man!
test
Real Player rules! Nothing better!
I think you people are forgetting that there are myriads of alternative media players out there, free and otherwise. If you're into any media-rich hobbies, like Japanese anime (like me), then you need a player that supports high-end codec packs and tons of media formats. Media Player Classic is one of these, a fairly simple in features but powerful in functionality player. My personal preference is TCMP (The Core Media Player) for various reasons. The interface is similar to Winamp (the classic Winamp, which beats Winamp 5 anyday) and it will play pretty much any format you can possibly throw at it, including the new matroska (mkv) format, which is rapidly gaining popularity. It will even play Quicktime and Real media files if you have the right codec plugins. I can't remember the last time I've had QT or Real installed on my computer, and I don't miss them one tiny little bit. If you're more interested in broad compatibility than fancy music stores and radio stations, don't waste your time with the big, bloated conglomerates. Get something designed by geeks for geeks.
For those who want to view real media without the real player. Remove real player then install real alternative 1.4 WORKS great and isnt annoying. It's freeware
I never liked Real Player since it was so invasive. I will never load a product from Real again, ever. Annoying does not begin to describe it. I supported them in the beginning but they deserved to get crushed by MSFT.
Real is THE most disgusting, appalling, piece of s**tware that has ever existed. The sooner this company DIES, the better. Can I please know the name of Real's mastermind? I would dearly like to pay my respects to his mother's grave.
RealOne Player kicks ass over Windows Media Player. I'm appalled that Real would get in bed with the Eveil Empire from Redmond. RealOne Player is NOT spyware, does not COME with spyware, and does not INVITE spyware. I know because I earn my living supporting Windows. Wanna know why someone wouldn't pick Windows Media Player? It's a memory pig (takes 4 times the memory space as RealOne Player), and it promotes an exclusive, DRM-infested file type, WMA. And it's from Microsoft. News flash, people: all of their software is junk!
Agree, beating Microsoft must be like kickin the phone company. They are large, and green money is guaranteed. Windows? is a giant cash machine.
Small flash for you microshit supporters - you can RP on any MS OS - surprisingly WMP can't even install universally on any MS OS - that is telling.. aside from that, RM format is 30% more efficient than MPEG-4 (part 2) that MS uses - so don't say that the quality is worse than MS, it simply isn't true. Sorry the RP has ads (that you can turn off, stupid) but there is only one way to be competitive, and ads are one of those ways.. another way is to force users to buy the latest OS to enjoy the latest player.. (WMP10 on XP)
Try installing WMP10 on 98 or 2000 or Mac or Linux. Have a great day Billsuckers.
Yes, Core media player is one of many much better players (I prefer ViPlay with one of the new skins though). Realplayer does not run on XP-SP1 any longer. It hangs and also hangs the task manager. Even when it did run it was the ugliest program I have ever run. (I didn't like the way it stole the .avi extension either, forcing me to reinstall ViPlay to get the special icon function back - it's a very aggresive spyware now operating as a torpedo for Microsoft).
I'm confused...how is RP spyware? Unless you mean the way it makes itself the universal player by default and has that real message center. You can turn both of those off easily in the options; am I missing something important? While we're on the subject, how come real player won't play some of my MP3's properly, and WMP doesn't play them all correctly either?