Microsoft Corp. software designed for, of all things, cash registers and slot machines played a persuasive role in the European Union's landmark antitrust case labeling it an abusive monopolist. The European Commission is expected to fine Microsoft hundreds of millions of euros next week and order it to offer a version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system without Windows Media Player audio-visual software installed.
If Competition Commissioner Mario Monti succeeds in getting Microsoft to reconfigure future versions of an operating system that runs more than 95 percent of all PCs -- still considered a longshot by some industry observers -- a piece of Microsoft software known as Windows XP Embedded could be the reason. The commission says that by bundling Windows Media Player with its operating system, Microsoft is stifling competition in a market that is rapidly becoming a favorite method for consumers to listen to music and watch movies. Microsoft argues removal of Windows Media Player will limit, if not make impossible, the ability to play songs and film clips on a PC.
News source:
Reuters
Bug fixes:
Fixed crash when closing history window with large history.
IE was always used as the default browser if IE was open.
Added option to set outgoing port range.
Fixed several memory leaks.
Improved proxy handling.
Rare crash on opening options.
AutoNA was not set correctly when Away was set.
Visibility list did not list all users.
Icons in URL and message contact menus didn't update when icons changed.
Reduce CPU usage in file transfer dialogs (fewer screen updates).
Many other bug fixes.
AIM: Unable to save "Only reply to users in your contact list" option.
ICQ: Failed to send or receive files from ICQ 2003b.
ICQ: Fixed a number of smaller memory leaks.
ICQ: Contact e-mail info was not displayed correctly.
ICQ: Failed to retrieve user details during certain circumstances.
ICQ: URL messages could disappear when sent through a Direct Connection.
ICQ: Nick name was not deleted from server list when local nick name was deleted.
ICQ: Server side contacts could reappear after being deleted if they were on the visible/invisible lists.
ICQ: Changing status while connecting had no effect.
ICQ: A bunch of other fixes the CVS change log if you want the big list.
Jabber: Should offline all chat rooms when go invisible (because they are actually offline).
Jabber: Miranda won't exit if more than one group chat windows are left open.
Jabber: Wrong filename encoding in file sending (signed/unsigned problem).
Jabber: Crash on connect/disconnect caused by stale contacts associated with an unknown protocol.
Jabber: Deleting group chat temporary contact unintentionally closes the chat room.
Jabber: Presence is broadcast to chat room that has denied our access.
Jabber: Graceful exit while Miranda shutdown in the middle of file transfer.
MSN: A port remained opened after the file transfer cancel.
MSN: if a contact list is very long, all contacts could be shown in the Offline mode
MSN: When you set your own nickname with spaces, it appears in the options dialog URL-encoded (with %20 instead of a space char).
MSN: Opened switchboard sessions weren't closed when you go offline without closing Miranda.
MSN: File sending does not require talking anymore.
MSN: Contacts with leading digits in the e-mail were not processed properly.
MSN: Many other bug fixes.
Enhancements:
New user is typing API (supported by ICQ/MSN/Jabber).
Messaging module moved to a plugin with many UI changes (SRMM).
Auto Away can now set protocols away if the workstation becomes locked.
Improved button control (bitmap support, flat button support).
Added options to disable systray icon flashing and adjusting blink time.
Default icon packs are automatically loaded from disk if they exist.
Added report bug menu item.
Many other enhancements.
AIM: Added user search capability.
AIM: Send messages to group chat users by double clicking name.
AIM: Added file receive support.
ICQ: Added support for sending and receiving Typing Notifications.
ICQ: Now accepts messages formatted in Unicode (note: this won’t solve the problem with displaying messages with multiple char sets).
IRC: Contacts on the contact list.
IRC: Host masks.
IRC: Ignore system.
IRC: Channel manager.
Jabber: Manual registration to Jabber services.
Jabber: Can automatically remove contacts not in roster.
Jabber: Invite and accept invitation to a group chat.
Jabber: Support composing message event (message typing notification).
Jabber: Send full JID (with resource name) when appropriate.
MSN: 'User is typing' support added.
MSN: "Invite to chat" contact menu item is added.
MSN: 'block/unlock' feature is integrated with Options->Status->Visible.
MSN: New gateway support.
First, it will depend on what 'unbundling' boils down to in the end. It may mean "not installed by default, but present on the CD".
or, it may mean "not even included on the CD, but when you first try to access a media file, you will be sent to a download center to pick your player".
Hardly "crippling" the PC, unless Microsoft refuses to make the download/install easy to do....
The problem is that there is something worth going after—money.
The EU can huff and puff about fairness and competition, but in the end, it's all about the money—it ain't any more complicated than that. They don't give a rat's ass about competition. They know that they can get away with blackmailing Microsoft for some big bucks, and they're going for it.
This is government sponsored extortion, plain and simple.
Microsoft (right or wrong) was found guilty in US courts of illegally using their monopoly position, and have therefore fallen under special rules that require US Government involvement in their business. The Europeans use the US precedent somewhat, and have similar laws of their own that must be adhered to.
As for Linux... Yeah, they bundle... A bunch of choices made by tons of different people and organizations. It's about the opposite of what Microsoft is doing.
Microsoft (right or wrong) was found guilty in US courts of illegally using their monopoly position, and have therefore fallen under special rules that require US Government involvement in their business. The Europeans use the US precedent somewhat, and have similar laws of their own that must be adhered to.
As for Linux... Yeah, they bundle... A bunch of choices made by tons of different people and organizations. It's about the opposite of what Microsoft is doing.
The US courts are wrong. Microsoft is company that cares about its consumers and makes changes to its Operating System with their best interest in mind.
Now, to get the profits maximized, a corporation needs to try to do well at what they do. At least as good as (or better than) their competition. A corporation without much competition has no real DRIVE to excel, merely be 'very good'. Right now, Microsoft is at no real risk of losing much of their customer base (at least at the home/desktop level). Their biggest concern is a good struggle for the server market.
I think Microsoft makes a good product, but their loyalty (definition of a corporation in a capitalistic economic system) is to the dollar (or Yen, or Euro, etc.)
With a microsoft solution you are forced to have WMP on your computer at least once. You have no option to remove it on install. I'm talking about offical cd's, not hacked together preinstalls you guys often bring up that are far from default.
With GNULinux you have choice, you don't even need a GUI.
-gosh
You think MS will next Friday say "Okay - so who do we make the check to?"
I don't think so...
Personnally I don't care if the EU force microsoft to remove media player, there is nothing to stop me downloading it and re-installing it. similarly there is currently nothing to stop end users installing a media player of their choice, I use WMP Winamp and Creative Playcenter (For my jukebo
i tried winamp and realone player and musicmatch jukebox (i even had the plus version for a while) but i prefer wmp, i hope they at least keep it on the cd or something because i like having a lot of things integrated in windows, it means if some software goes balls up i can generally fall back on the windows stuff, or in the case of wmp i just use the windows stuff anyway
Winamp is more fully featured than WMP, and any features it lacks can be added in with plugins. The plugins approach to features is way better because it reduces the bloat. Winamp 5 owns all.
I only wish they had a linux ver.
You reap what you sow.
"i mean if the Europeans want to rip apart Windows, Microsoft should just stop selling their products there, and just remove support for them and see how they like it. If you don't like it dont buy it."
That's a great idea. No wait, that would be inane and probably illegal or at least completely ineffective. And hey, wasn't 'ripping apart windows' originally the Americans' ideas? So they must hate MS too -- maybe we can get MS to stop selling in the US as well. And hey the Japanese just raided...
OTOH maybe M/S does do some <gasp> bad things
That is an idea. The Europeans can't do a thing if Microsoft shuts down all of their operations in Europe. Then the EU will receive loads of pressure from people living in Europe who can't live without Microsoft Windows simply because they love using it.
Microsoft wouldn't do something like that because they want the world. If they stop selling in Europe, then the competition would move in and that's not something they want.
Microsoft will just be forced to remove their media player from the default install. A small loss to them, in the bigger picture.
IMPOSSIBLE?!?!
Jeez, MS really does think *everyone* is stoopid, don't they!
W.
IMPOSSIBLE?!?!
Jeez, MS really does think *everyone* is stoopid, don't they!
W.
Many other Media players rely on the WMP API.
What if the user does not have or want Internet access.
Then how did they get those MP3s? A friend? Then I suppose they can get a friend to get them media player software...
WMP can not create an MP3 out the box yo uneed to purchase an MP3 add on for it.
Computers should be sold able to do basic tasks and playing a music CD is such a task.
Computers should be sold able to do basic tasks and playing a music CD is such a task.
It can.
I don't need ANY software to play a music CD on my computer. Put the CD in, and it starts playing.
Oh. I use Linux.
On a Windows PC, Microsoft reads the DATA, uses CPU and other resources to route the sound to the speakers...
This would be a "Microsoft" issue.
What if I want to rip the CD? Or tag it? Or check out the artist information and pictures? Or put it in my library? But wait, I shouldn't do all that because [gasp] it REROUTES the sound to my speakers! Oh no!
Gov: Were suing you for delivering software bundled.
MS: Ok have it your way we'll just fire any MS employee's in the Europe, stop delivering you products and stop supporting you language so you cannot even use Foreign versions. Happy?
Not profitable but, its the quicket method to get rid of complaints
Smite has power!
So, games, etc would start to be written for Linux instead of Windows, since you can't get Windows anymore. So would drivers, etc. And as Linux begins to grow in popularity, it's current chicken/egg problem would be fixed, and it would be ready for adoption in the US.
Microsoft does not want this to happen. It's better to agree to their rules then to be totally screwed.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.