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Windows Media Player 9
captainclever writes "The Register has an interesting article about the posibilities for WMP Clients for Linux.
Would anyone want to use MS WMP in Linux?" See also a news.com story.
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After reading about the DeCSS case I finally decided to sit down and devote some time to getting DVD playback on my FreeBSD system. Xine seems to work pretty well. I'd prefer seing Xine and mplayer move forward rather than have WMP.
scott
I've switched to linux on the desktop some time ago and the only thing annoying me once and a while is the amount of WMP-streams (dutch radio for example) out there. If there's a way to view / listen to them I would consider it. After all I've used proprietary software in the past, I'm still using it sometimes and I don't want to beat RMS in GNU-evangelism ;-)
/(bb|[^b]{2})/
It's interesting how so many Linux users complain about how horrible Microsoft products are, yet at the same time embrace things like Wine, Crossover and now potential ports of MS products (and they also like to have Windows-ish desktops, ala GNOME and KDE). I read this article yesterday and it seemed to me that it was more like MS was willing to license the technology they use in WMP9 to third parties to make the software, not that they were directly porting the software themselves.
Nothing good can come of this. I for one don't want to see a Microsoft product on Linux.
<wik>/bin/finger that girl in the back row of machines.
As much a I hate to admit it the WMA format is better than MP3. Until Sonic Blue adds ogg decoding to the RioVolt 250 (are you listening Sonic Blue, it's just a flash rom upgrade) it might be just the ticket.
Meddle thou not in the affairs of Dragons, for thou art crunchy and with most anything.
Users don't want to have to learn the same thing eight or nine times. Windows doesn't do a whole lot that is fantastic, IMHO, but their interface offers the best compromise between range of operation and ease of use. On Linux, we've tilted the dial towards range of operation (well, except for Quicktime video...), but there's still the issues of compatibility and ease of use that have been largely disregarded.
The average user has an index of approximately 27 different motions that can be easily recalled. People generally start at the bottom of a surface such as the page of a book or the screen on their computer when they first look at it, but if they're going to be with it a while they begin looking at the top (when they turn the page or open an application). This is the type of research that you can see in Windows -- Start bar on bottom, menu options on top of the application.
So maybe duplication isn't such a bad thing... after all, even they just took the best parts from the innovators of the GUI (Apple) and improved on the rest.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Hey it is wishful thinking that WMP for Linux would solve many of your media playing wishes. However, from my experience useing WMP (current) for Mac OS X (10.2) not all media is playable. Nor does the WMP work nicely with browsers other than IE.
In one word MS doesn't fully support WMP on any platform other than Windows. I must admit some of the problems are due to third party hack up solutions. (read tuning in to your fav air wave station over the internet) Maybe MS would provide some plug-in architecture to improve its media playing abilities.
If someone uses a nasty non-standard format then you don't want there content.
No DRM Enabled player makes boycotting easy.
OGG Yes, MP3 yes MPEG yes, non-standard formats no, it doesn't matter how good your format is, I wont use it unless you release it to a standards body.
What ever happened to FIF &co.... good formats, yep, standards based, nope.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
I'll stick to MPlayer. At least it doesn't send off your download statistics and crap. Plus, it already supports beta WM9 codecs anyways.
Listen this might be good. If WMP comes to linux then perhaps IE might follow and then Outlook Express. Think it is crazy? All the apps mentioned have Solaris versions so why not?
:->
Sure, I won't use them. But the corporate folks will love it.
Also, a lot of folks scream about how hard it is to set up some of the latest greatest video/audio apps but with apt and apt for rpm I have had an easy time of it. The only problem is that when you want the newest latest greatest features like Sorennson support in mplayer.
I am just waiting for a complete quicktime Sorrenson solution. Either it needs work or my setup is weird because it did not work for me. It has not been out that long so no worries. I will probably get a version working of this early code two days before the apt for rpm folks put rpms for it on freshrpms.
Anyway, I would not use WMP or Outlook Express in Linux but there are plenty of corporate adopters that would. Not only that, I have to admit I would use IE every day in Linux, for about five minutes. Why? The corporate timesheet app online works only on IE.
ACK
First, the cons:
Now, the pros:
- Built in DSP enhancements that actually sound decent. No downloading trialware DSP enhancers.
- Minimize to Quick Launch. When you minimize it, instead of getting just a button on the taskbar you get a mini control panel. Slick.
- Song rating. You can rate each song (1 to 5 stars) as it plays and and eventually get 'Top 10' lists or whatever.
- Built-in playlists. You can select "Songs I listen to at night", "Songs I haven't heard lately.", "4 and 5 star songs", etc.
- Automatic ID3 tag updating
At this point, my main grudge against WMP9 is that it won't rip to MP3 or Vorbis. Of course, I use CDEx for that anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I do know that I've tried WinAmp 3 on two seperate occasions and as far as I'm concerned WMP9 blows it away. So yes, I would be interested in a Linux version.Why exactly would I want a proprietary, closed-source spyware application when I have free software mplayer which plays everything from .mp3 to quicktime and can double not only as a DVD player but also as an encoder ?
That's like running IE when you can run Mozilla, isn't it?
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
An interesting thought occurrs: if Microsoft got out of the business of pushing their Operating System (not necessarily stopping production, just playing nice), and got more into the applications-development side of things, what would we then think about Microsoft?
;p
For example, they release Linux, Solaris and *BSD versions of Office, WMP, IE, and other software, all fully functional and roughly equal to (say) the Mac versions. Likewise, they no longer resort to monopolistic tactics to push their OS monopoly, realizing that they can do better selling applications, and not worrying about which OS you use. Perhaps they even focus more on security in their software products (ignoring the OS for now).
Would most of us reconsider how we think of Microsoft? If they slowly did away with the things we tend to hate the most, and focused on quality software, would they then be just another vendor (albeit extremely huge)?
I posted earlier answering "Not me" on the WMP issue, but it really isn't too late for Microsoft to wisen up. I believe they make more money from Office sales than OS sales, but the OS monopoly helped with that. Perhaps they realize they are losing/will lose the OS monopoly, and need to focus on quality cross-platform applications to stay in business. Maybe the free-as-in-beer WMP is a first step toward this, or a test project, or...
Or maybe I didn't get enough sleep and am still dreaming... Just random thoughts spewing out here. Resume normal discussion at this time
NGWave - Fast Sound Editor for Windows
I refuse to run any DRM emable software, or hardware on my machine... No one will monitor my digital rights farther than software licencing...
As far as WMP is concerned, it is a big piece of bloatware... that monitors your listening habits and broadcasts them.
However, i'm all for OGG or other open ended file formats...
We just had a vendor in here the other day installing a system a client wants us to use for sharing/previewing TV spots. They are switching their preferred formats to WM9 and MPEG2. MPEG2 is supported because of its use as a broadcast format.
The engineer who did the equipment installation said that WM9 is preferred because of its extremely high quality at low bitrates and the bonus of ubiquitous support in Windows environments.
While they still support (and will support) Quicktime, it is no longer their preferred format.
I thought this was rather surprising, as I was unaware of "pro" tools for WM9 encoding or the availability of the codecs out outside of a Windows environment. But clearly for this application they felt that it was at the very least a superior codec.
This COULD be Microsoft finally publicly acknowledging that Linux is a competing platform. But I would doubt it. I sense two threats here:
1. This is a trojan horse in the truest sense of the word. To get Microsoft positioned to hold a portion of the distribs for ransom, or force some kind of proprietary/non-proprietary distrib fork that would fragment the mainstream adoption of Linux.
2. The positive attention to Linux may be too much and too soon. Especially if the push is to the "desktop". The general public is not ready for Linux. Hell, they aren't even ready for Windows in most cases. The real issue is getting OEM installations of Linux (SuSE, RedHat, doesn't matter... just make sure it's well configured and that all the hardware works out of the box) Also, include caveats about what this box WILL work with and what it won't: Software and hardware compatibility.
I mentioned in one of my earlier columns (for those that keep up with the T4D Chronicle) a while back that if "Joe Average" out there keeps hearing and reading about Linux on the mainstream press without knowledge of what Linux REALLY is, they may be in for disappointment.
The mainstream press just touts "Linux" but there is no explanation of the finer points. The public should be made aware that most distribs are very different and that they themselves are NOT Linux. They are built on top of Linux. The problem is that "Joe Average" doesn't care. He only wants to know: "Can I get AOL on it? Can I play the latest and greates games on it? Can I download pr0n on it? Can I do "work" on it (Office applications, etc... You know, the pointless stuff.)
?
In a lot of ways the distribs are the software equivalent of the PC. A consistent lower layer; the kernel. The essential "expansion cards"; libraries, base authentication, shell. And finally the optional "expansion cards"; XFree86, Gnome, KDE, etc... This is a great oversimplification, but it suffices for this discussion. Linux is to software as beige boxes are to hardware. That's why so many of us "geeks" love it.
RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake and other distrib vendors are the software parallel to Alienware or Explorer Micro. Here is where ther is a problem. "Joe Average" is expecting from Alienware exactly the same thing that HP or Dell promise: "mouth breather support" and empty reassurance that he bought the right product. When he finds out that he needs to do some thinking for himself, he is going to get very annoyed. Even though RedHat and SuSE provide support, it's not the same. Read on to see why...
Think about this for a minute: How many "Joe Averages" in your life do you know who have bought a "beige box" and then complained to you about how it "never works" or "is always breaking/crashing/disconnecting from the internet, etc...". Now think about how many "Joe Averages" you know who bought HP, Compaq or Dell and complain just as much. I'll bet the beige boxes get more complaints. However, it has nothing to do with the HP or Dell being better than the beige boxes. It has to do with how good they are at making the customer FEEL like HP or Dell are better than the beige box vendors. Now... think about most "Joe Uber Geeks" you know. Which do they prefer, beige box or HP/Dell? Same with the OS... Linux or Windows? And that is where the problem with pushing Linux into the mainstream is right now. Unless Linux gets pre-installed at the factory on a "big name" (Doesn't have to be HP or Dell... could be an entirely new player.) box, has support for even the dumbest questions and lots of that "reassurance", it's going to leave a bad taste for the early noob adopters.
Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and use it exclusively at home. My family also uses it. The problem isn't the installer either... "Joe Average" SHOULDN'T BE installing ANY OS. At least not at this time. That's where the bad OS reputations come from; bad installation experiences.
As an aside, I will say this: I think the first Linux distrib that WILL take off with the "Average User" is the one that installs like an application rather than an OS. Think MacOS 7/8. What a beautiful installer! Just boot off the CD and you have... A DESKTOP! Something you already know how to use in 75% of the cases. How do you install the OS? Just run the setup off the CD and walk through the wizard in an environment that you are ALREADY familiar with (that "Desktop", remember?) If someone puts out a distrib that does that, then maybe... just maybe Linux (or any other OS) might be ready for "Joe Average" to install on his PC.
Un-news
It also doesn't hurt that mplayer allows you to liberate media from restrictive formats. I've used it to convert from Windows Media to MPEG and from QuickTime to MPEG...not that QuickTime is a particularly restrictive format, but I'm sure we know how user-hostile a format Windows Media can be. I haven't tried going from Real to MPEG yet, mainly because there's really not that much (that I'm interested in, anyway) that uses Real anymore.
I used it to make available an MPEG version of the fan-made Star Trek episode you might've read about lately. A list of mirrors is still here, but I took the file down earlier this week after our outbound DSL line was lit solid for 72 hours. :-)
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
Not wanting to worry you or anything but:
in the UK[the land of Big brother],
Either:
they won't switch the pump on until you number plate has been taken, compaired against a nationwide database of dodgy numberplates etc...
Eveyone I've ever know to do driveoffs pinches the numberplates from a simila car first.
Or: you have to hand your card over/pay upfront.
Not all the time, but quite often.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.