Microsoft prepares reply to iTunes

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While Apple Computer grabs publicity for its new 99 cent music download store, Microsoft is quietly preparing for a counterattack by improving its own technology for supporting subscription music services.

Services such as Pressplay, which uses Microsoft technology, have been put on the defensive with news that Apple has sold more than 2 million downloads since April 28, the day its iTunes Music Store launched. But Microsoft is betting that new security enhancements planned for later this year could make renting music, rather than owning it, more attractive to consumers.

Microsoft said it is developing software that makes it easier for subscription services to transfer music to portable music players. These services now provide unlimited downloads of hundreds of thousands of songs to a PC for a monthly fee, but they typically do not allow files to be moved around much. Microsoft said it will soon address this shortcoming with technology that will allow unlimited downloads to a portable device--a dramatic improvement.

"We can already support unlimited downloads tethered to the PC," said Jonathan Usher, director of Microsoft's Windows Media division. "The next step is enabling access to unlimited downloads on consumer devices."

News source: News.com

As Apple continues its development of the Safari browser, it is also working to integrate it into Mac OS X 10.3, Panther. Apple has been including new Safari builds with the Panther builds, as well as the browser's frameworks. Panther will ship with its own version of Safari that won't run on Jaguar.

Apple is working to fix known Safari bugs, both for the next public release and for the later release that will be included with Panther. Bugs that Apple is resolving include issues with individual sites, problems with the RealPlayer plug-in, printing and redraw issues with frames, showing cursor feedback for resizable frames, displaying "alt" text for broken images, and problems with pop-up blocking.

The company is also working on a number of feature additions suggested by users. These include the ability to use the keyboard tab to navigate form controls and links, ad image blocking, a way to "save as" downloads to a location other than the one specified in preferences, LiveConnect support, and the option to turn off image animation.

(8 replies) #1 Gahmahn on 24 May 2003 - 03:20

[QUOTE] could make renting music, rather than owning it, more attractive to consumers. [/QUOTE] I don't think so. I'd rather own.

#1.1 Mav Phoenix on 24 May 2003 - 04:58

Agreed.

#1.2 karmakillernz on 24 May 2003 - 05:01

I don't know if you realise this but you don't own the music now anyway. You're only given the right to "use" it until the record company says otherwise.

#1.3 Krankerz on 24 May 2003 - 05:09

[QUOTE]I don't know if you realise this but you don't own the music now anyway. You're only given the right to "use" it until the record company says otherwise.[/QUOTE] I beg to differ. If I decide to shell out 20 bucks for a CD that was made for me from the CD manufacturing plant, then I would say I own that music.

#1.4 semifamous on 24 May 2003 - 05:35

[neoquote=#1.3 by Krankerz]I beg to differ. If I decide to shell out 20 bucks for a CD that was made for me from the CD manufacturing plant, then I would say I own that music.[/neoquote] You could say that, but you'd be wrong. You own the plastic that the music is on, and you own the case it came in, and you own the paper that the sleeve is printed on, but you only own a license to listen to the music. The actual *music* itself does not belong to you. And it's impolite to beg.

#1.5 razar on 24 May 2003 - 05:50

[neoquote=#1.0 by Gahmahn][QUOTE] could make renting music, rather than owning it, more attractive to consumers. [/QUOTE] I don't think so. I'd rather own.[/neoquote] Agreed.

#1.6 gameguy on 24 May 2003 - 05:55

[neoquote=#1.4 by semifamous]You own the plastic that the music is on, and you own the case it came in, and you own the paper that the sleeve is printed on, but you only own a license to listen to the music. The actual *music* itself does not belong to you.[/neoquote] of course that's right, but the common use of "own" means what he's saying. microsoft does the same thing with windows. you don't "own" windows, you only own the right to use it. if you owned it, you'd be able to do anything you want with it, like change the source code for example.

#1.7 Neobond on 24 May 2003 - 08:48

Schools have failed to teach the concept of ownership and licensing it seems.

#1.8 Tom Servo on 24 May 2003 - 10:41

I rather think people missed to get it, or didn't even care to get it.

#2 ben_b on 24 May 2003 - 03:20

Good boy Microsoft, you get 'em.

(2 replies) #3 Tim on 24 May 2003 - 03:45

itunes for windows will own it, aslong as its not like qt for windows

#3.1 gameguy on 24 May 2003 - 04:42

of course it will be like quicktime

#3.2 daveoc64 on 24 May 2003 - 08:16

Yeah I hate that brushed metal effect of quicktime. Also in Quicktime the menus flicker and anything else for that matter if it is placed on top of the Quicktime window.

(3 replies) #4 nspeds on 24 May 2003 - 04:27

Go microsoft, keeep copying. Let Jobs innovate, and microsoft deviate. Alright, i know that makes NO sense.

#4.1 syndicate on 24 May 2003 - 05:49

could be: Jobs Innovates, Gates Replicates.

#4.2 Neobond on 24 May 2003 - 08:50

[neoquote=#4.1 by syndicate]could be: Jobs Innovates, Gates Replicates.[/neoquote] That would only be true if PressPlay didn't already exist when Jobs "innovated" with his iTunes idea. Yes the above was sarcasm.

#4.3 JaggedFlame on 24 May 2003 - 16:35

Yeah, the bulk of it wasn't innovation at all. LiquidAudio was already providing this service before Jobs did anything with it.

#5 ryuh3d on 24 May 2003 - 04:33

If they actually allow unlimited burns and transfering to other PCs that will be great. Once you "buy" the MP3 I should be able to put it on my PC and my brothers in the same room. With PressPlay you can not do that. I would actually get iTunes or PressPlay for Windows. Which every comes out first in the form of what iTunes offers the Mac users now.

(9 replies) #6 macrosslover on 24 May 2003 - 04:40

to be fair....IT'S STILL GOING TO FAIL. kazaa is still around and i don't care if MS charged 5 cents for each song, until kazaa or whatever else goes down, it will be a while before i buy my music and stop stealing it.

#6.1 gameguy on 24 May 2003 - 04:48

i'd pay 5 cents for a song. but music will never be that cheap.

#6.2 BigBoy on 24 May 2003 - 04:48

Well, if you are into stealing - you are into stealing and that's who you are. I don't get why you are saying "Microsoft and Apple, go and stop me". What's the point?

#6.3 Krankerz on 24 May 2003 - 05:12

[neoquote=#6.0 by macrosslover]to be fair....IT'S STILL GOING TO FAIL. kazaa is still around and i don't care if MS charged 5 cents for each song, until kazaa or whatever else goes down, it will be a while before i buy my music and stop stealing it.[/neoquote] I think the thousands of users who downloaded over 2 million songs thus far beg to differ.

#6.4 razar on 24 May 2003 - 05:52

[neoquote=#6.3 by Krankerz]I think the thousands of users who downloaded over 2 million songs thus far beg to differ.[/neoquote] Thats apple fans. To them Jobs = Jebus.

#6.5 macrosslover on 24 May 2003 - 07:50

[neoquote=#6.3 by Krankerz]I think the thousands of users who downloaded over 2 million songs thus far beg to differ.[/neoquote] simple solution, kazaa was never on mac.

#6.6 Wickedkitten on 24 May 2003 - 08:35

[neoquote=#6.5 by macrosslover]simple solution, kazaa was never on mac.[/neoquote] just because kazaa itself isn't, that doesn't mean mp3 sharing programmes don't exist for the mac

#6.7 nookadum on 24 May 2003 - 08:49

[neoquote=#6.0 by macrosslover]to be fair....IT'S STILL GOING TO FAIL. kazaa is still around and i don't care if MS charged 5 cents for each song, until kazaa or whatever else goes down, it will be a while before i buy my music and stop stealing it.[/neoquote] So who cares if you steal your music? Some of us wish to listen to our music legally.

#6.8 Miran on 24 May 2003 - 14:34

I would definitely pay. Kazaa sucks for selection - it is mainly mainstream music. I mean when Audiogalaxy was around I had no problem paying for the Gold service since the shear amount of different songs was amazing. So far nothing free has come close to matching that diversity, including WinMX, Blubster, etc. So yeah.. I would pay.

#6.9 macrosslover on 24 May 2003 - 16:17

[neoquote=#6.8 by Miran]I would definitely pay. Kazaa sucks for selection - it is mainly mainstream music. I mean when Audiogalaxy was around I had no problem paying for the Gold service since the shear amount of different songs was amazing. So far nothing free has come close to matching that diversity, including WinMX, Blubster, etc. So yeah.. I would pay.[/neoquote] i've had no problem with Kazaa. i did like audiogalaxy better, only because you could find a higher quality mp3. but i've usually had no problem finding a classical mp3 from a lesser know person, or some song from the 70s or 60s that came out. of course at 1 point these were all mainstream songs, but if you are really looking for that really really no name song, then i believe most of the pay services won't provide that song either.

#7 BigBoy on 24 May 2003 - 04:49

This is cool - means prices will go down

(1 reply) #8 xGarrett on 24 May 2003 - 05:17

I could see song price wars with MS and Apple. "This week, all songs 50 cents on Apple Music Store." This week, all songs only a quarter on Microsoft blah blah blah."

#8.1 gameguy on 24 May 2003 - 05:57

if i ever start buying music from them, that would be sweet

(3 replies) #9 Esoteric on 24 May 2003 - 05:38

looks like Microsoft wants to dominate every section of the industry again.... geeze im getting sick and tired of that company

#9.1 Foo Fighter on 24 May 2003 - 06:32

[neoquote=#9.0 by Esoteric]geeze im getting sick and tired of that company

[/neoquote] Uh....ok. So what are you doing [i]here[/i]?

#9.2 sttroopers on 24 May 2003 - 06:34

And how is apple any different? Atleast with windows i can run it on what ever hardware i want.

#9.3 Neobond on 24 May 2003 - 08:52

[neoquote=#9.2 by sttroopers]And how is apple any different? Atleast with windows i can run it on what ever hardware i want.

[/neoquote] well said

#10 JLP on 24 May 2003 - 06:13

As long as it will not be in the most crappy WMA format this is a good thing. More competition is good. Apple chose quite a good format. it sure is not Ogg Vorbis but still better then MP3.

(2 replies) #11 rocks1985 on 24 May 2003 - 06:35

To me, 5 cents seems like a fair price for purchasing a song. If iPod-like devices with built in FM Tuners and FM recorders were given out for free, I would definetely purchase songs for 5 cents a pop. Oh Yea...Question: Do songs that are not copy-righted get to be downloaded for free? When I download songs off Kazaa, I usually download hit singles, songs from commercials and video games, remixes, and songs from bands that are not that greatly known to the general public. To make these pay - services even more attractive to me would be to increase the amount and variety of free materials such as remixes which are so good for excersise, local or up and coming bands, songs that are heard in video games..commercials...movies ect...Some of those songs are good. Also, if a band or music groups states that they would like any number of certain songs they choose to be let loose online for free, then any music service should be obliged to give songs away which artists don't mind. In other words, if the artist cares, then charge the consumer, but if the artist wants to give music away, then certain specified songs should be free.

Last edited by 16757 on 24 May 2003 - 06:42

#11.1 sttroopers on 24 May 2003 - 06:37

[neoquote=#11.0 by rocks1985]To me, 5 cents seems like a fair price for purchasing a song. If iPod-like devices with built in FM Tuners and FM recorders were given out for free, I would definetely purchase songs for 5 cents a pop. [/neoquote] Dude, get a job.

#11.2 rocks1985 on 24 May 2003 - 06:49

I have a job.

(8 replies) #12 Wickedkitten on 24 May 2003 - 06:43

Hah yeah, Microsoft is really going to do well considering they will use wma and bundle it with more DRM shite than you can shake a stick at. Go Go Microsoft!

#12.1 gameguy on 24 May 2003 - 07:01

i don't disagree with you, but you are begging to get flamed

a lot of people think wma sucks and drm is evil.

#12.2 sttroopers on 24 May 2003 - 07:07

Tim, hows the sarcasm tag coming along?

#12.3 Wickedkitten on 24 May 2003 - 07:10

[neoquote=#12.1 by gameguy]i don't disagree with you, but you are begging to get flamed

a lot of people think wma sucks and drm is evil.[/neoquote] if people want to flame me, go ahead cos I could care less cos the statement is completely true. At least with Apple you can tie it in with 3 macs. With wma it will be stuck to one computer, be encoded in a crap codec, and most likely expire in 30 days.

#12.4 blackice912 on 24 May 2003 - 09:53

[QUOTE]if people want to flame me, go ahead cos I could care less cos the statement is completely true. At least with Apple you can tie it in with 3 macs. With wma it will be stuck to one computer, be encoded in a crap codec, and most likely expire in 30 days.[/QUOTE] Ah, but it is false young one. People like you make Apples look rotten.

#12.5 Wickedkitten on 24 May 2003 - 09:58

[neoquote=#12.4 by blackice912][QUOTE]if people want to flame me, go ahead cos I could care less cos the statement is completely true. At least with Apple you can tie it in with 3 macs. With wma it will be stuck to one computer, be encoded in a crap codec, and most likely expire in 30 days.[/QUOTE] Ah, but it is false young one. People like you make Apples look rotten.[/neoquote] and people like you make some pc users look stupid and idiotically anti-apple Especially considering the fact I'm on my pc right now

Last edited by 799 on 24 May 2003 - 10:11

#12.6 Tom Servo on 24 May 2003 - 10:53

Let me guess now... You'll be claiming there's no DRM on the files in iTunes?

#12.7 Wickedkitten on 24 May 2003 - 11:04

[neoquote=#12.6 by Tom Servo]Let me guess now... You'll be claiming there's no DRM on the files in iTunes?[/neoquote] there is DRM in the files you get from the apple store, the only thing is that it is far more relaxed than what you get from MS. You would know this if you have ever downloaded anything from pressplay, which I guess from your statement you haven't.

#12.8 macrosslover on 24 May 2003 - 16:20

[neoquote=#12.7 by Wickedkitten]there is DRM in the files you get from the apple store, the only thing is that it is far more relaxed than what you get from MS. You would know this if you have ever downloaded anything from pressplay, which I guess from your statement you haven't.[/neoquote] that's pretty much pressplay's fault right there. MS just provided the technology. the technology provides a range of options that would allow the customer to do certain things with their music, pressplay just chose to be more restrictive about it. and the RIAA doesn't have many problems with having a liberal system on a Mac, where the file-sharing hasn't been a problem at. when you move over to Windows, it's a different story. i've read on countless macrumor sites that only 2 of the record companies have already signed up for the windows version of itunes. i get the feeling that they are going to force Apple or MS whoever they eventually sign with to be much more restrictive with their DRM than it is on the Apple.

(1 reply) #13 Chicane-UK on 24 May 2003 - 10:05

Yay.. way to go Microsoft. Playing catch up once again

#13.1 Tom Servo on 24 May 2003 - 10:54

Yeah because MS is the only company on the world that plays catch up, huh? Do me a favor, either whine at all companies that rip off ideas from others, or quit doing so altogether.

#14 CoLdFuSi0n on 24 May 2003 - 12:50

screw kazaa, IRC is the way to go

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