Microsoft on Monday launched the first of several pre-emptive strikes against Apple Computer's Macworld trade show by making announcements about new technologies far ahead of their delivery to market.
In Microsoft's first salvo, the company revealed details about the next version of its digital media technology, code-named Corona, including that it officially will be known as Windows Media 9 Series. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is slated to launch the first public beta, or test, version of Windows Media at a Sept. 4 event. This and other digital media and consumer announcements, expected this week, are designed to steal thunder from Macworld, which starts Wednesday in New York. Last week, Microsoft said that later this year it will release a new line of 802.11b wireless networking products. Apple has been selling similar technology, called AirPort, for more than two years.
Microsoft apparently believes that it has delivered on the promises of the five-year agreement but that Apple has failed to do what is necessary to properly support its partners. Microsoft, for example, was instrumental in helping Apple resolve problems with Mac OS X (70 bug fixes contributed by the MacBU, and the MacBU unit taking the heat for a delay in shipping Office v. X when indeed the delay in bringing Office v. X to OS X was in bugs discovered by Microsoft in their new OS). That effort culminated in the September release of Mac OS X 10.1, soon followed by the release of Office v. X and many other important applications that run natively on the new operating system.
Microsoft's Mac commitment appears to be wavering, spurred in part by recent actions on the part of Apple. One such action, the inclusion of the iChat instant messenger program with Mac OS X 10.2 that connects to AOL's Instant Messenger network, caught Microsoft executives by surprise. And the Apple/Netscape home page deal, for which Microsoft "switched" the browsers default home page from Netscape's to Microsoft's own MSN home page, when they launched IE 5.2 for the Mac just recently!
Apple's Mac OS X 10.2, code-named Jaguar, has raised considerable concern in Redmond as well. Jaguar adds some new features "that have some people loosing sleep," said one source. "You don't know what kind of cultural paranoia we have here" about competitors.
News source: CNet News
View: Microsoft Press Release - Windows Media 9 Series announcement
In Microsoft's first salvo, the company revealed details about the next version of its digital media technology, code-named Corona, including that it officially will be known as Windows Media 9 Series. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is slated to launch the first public beta, or test, version of Windows Media at a Sept. 4 event. This and other digital media and consumer announcements, expected this week, are designed to steal thunder from Macworld, which starts Wednesday in New York. Last week, Microsoft said that later this year it will release a new line of 802.11b wireless networking products. Apple has been selling similar technology, called AirPort, for more than two years.
Microsoft apparently believes that it has delivered on the promises of the five-year agreement but that Apple has failed to do what is necessary to properly support its partners. Microsoft, for example, was instrumental in helping Apple resolve problems with Mac OS X (70 bug fixes contributed by the MacBU, and the MacBU unit taking the heat for a delay in shipping Office v. X when indeed the delay in bringing Office v. X to OS X was in bugs discovered by Microsoft in their new OS). That effort culminated in the September release of Mac OS X 10.1, soon followed by the release of Office v. X and many other important applications that run natively on the new operating system.
Microsoft's Mac commitment appears to be wavering, spurred in part by recent actions on the part of Apple. One such action, the inclusion of the iChat instant messenger program with Mac OS X 10.2 that connects to AOL's Instant Messenger network, caught Microsoft executives by surprise. And the Apple/Netscape home page deal, for which Microsoft "switched" the browsers default home page from Netscape's to Microsoft's own MSN home page, when they launched IE 5.2 for the Mac just recently!
Apple's Mac OS X 10.2, code-named Jaguar, has raised considerable concern in Redmond as well. Jaguar adds some new features "that have some people loosing sleep," said one source. "You don't know what kind of cultural paranoia we have here" about competitors.
News source: CNet News View: Microsoft Press Release - Windows Media 9 Series announcement
 | Property Page details The property page is an additional page in the properties of a MP3-file. It is not limited to only one MP3-file, but you can select multiple MP3-files, or even scan whole directories. If you select a playlist-file (with the extension .pls or .m3u) then the information about the files in the playlist is displayed. The upper part of the propertypage displays some general information about the MP3-File. In fact it is the information about the MP3-bitstream. The lower part is for viewing/editing the ID3-tag: You can edit all the data shown here. Additionally you can copy a field to all the other files you have selected, so you don't have to enter the same data multiple times. (the '<>'-buttons). Another feature is the searching for MP3-files, when you shift-click on items in the drop-down lists of the specific field. They hold all the different information about all the MP3-files selected. The Clipalbum-button is more than a simply button: it displays the last action executed. You get a list of actions, when you right-click on this button. Actions are simple scripts, which generate text-output into a file or the clipboard. If you generate the output in a file, then the file is executed as if you did a double-click on it. I.e. if you make a ".bat" file, you can for example make a rename of the files. Or you can generate data-files with the information seperated by a TAB. You can easily import this kind of file in a spreadsheet-application. The scan-button analyzes the filename, and adds the values to the ID3-Tag, if the corresponding fields are empty. Useful for updating some empty info-fields. It depends on regular expressions, so you can generate your own template for scanning the data. |
Icon Handler Detail
The Icon-Handler makes new icons for MP3-files. Based on their bitrate, you can see different icons. This is very useful, as you can see directly in the explorer-view, which MP3s have good quality, and which not. Below you can see two screenshots, with the default icon-set. You can design your own icons, and even make themes, so you can easily switch between different icons.
Screenshot (big icons): | Screenshot (small icons - detail view): |
 | ToolTips Detail The Tooltips-Handler adds a nice feature to the explorer: when you keep your mouse over a MP3-file, then a ToolTip with information about the file is displayed. The advantage is, there is a complete list of used tags shown! Please Note: For this feature, you need the Active Desktop of Internet Explorer 4 installed. |
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