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Microsoft Opens MSN Music Store
pbranes writes "Microsoft has opened their online music store today with 1 million songs and it will be officially opened tomorrow when Windows Media Player 10 is released. Music costs $0.99 and $9.90 for albums ($0.09 less than iTunes). Also, music is at a higher quality - 160kbps VBR. You can browse the site with Mozilla, however, ActiveX is required for full functionality so IE is required to use the store. Also, Microsoft takes a hit at Apple for not licensing iPod functionality to third parties (kind of ironic when ActiveX is required to use the site).... If you are an iPod owner already and unhappy about this policy, you are welcome to send feedback to Apple requesting that they change their interoperability policy."
No matter what the bitrate, WMA has a bad habit of cutting off high and low frequencies and doing other crappy things.
When are we going to get a music store with LOSSLESS files (e.g. Apple Lossless or WMA Pro)?
Karma: Excellent (fuck, even in the future moderation doesn't work!)
OMG, I'm locked into a good experience! I'm locked into a good deal! Microsoft, save me! Lock me into a crappy deal/experience before I start to expect better from other companies!
Seriously, some would complain about being locked into an orgasm if it was coming from Apple.
It's not surprising that MS Fanboys are so completely ignorant and unintelligent as to not know what a monopoly is, and to base specious arguments based on their lack of of knowledge and failure to grasp the facts. Netcraft confirms that MS Fanboys are idiots.
This wasn't at all directed at you, it was just a convenient place to hang my rant. I apologize if you took it any other way.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Well, if Apple required me to download Safari to visit their music store from a windows environment we'd be comparing apples to apples (sorry). This is not the same thing.
Microsoft is requiring the use of their web browser to access their music store. It'd be a little different if Windows Media Player v10 was the only requirement.
It would be presumptuous to conclude that Americans have no right to know what is being done in their name
All I know is that Mac folks love to skip around saying "Tra-laa-laa Megahurths Myth Laa-dee-daa We're Fathster!
Best Buy can have you arrested
Huh... Apple requires you to download iTunes to browse their music store. There is no web-based Apple music store at all. You think that's better than MS requiring IE???