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Mozilla Partners with Real Networks
engineer_uhg writes to tell us that Mozilla has just entered into a multi-year agreement with Real Networks to have Firefox distributed with downloads of RealPlayer, Rhapsody, and RealArcade. The Mozilla team cited Real's estimated 2 million downloads per day as a great tool for distribution. However, many Firefox supporters question the move, complaining of questionable practices by Real.
I already use Opera over Firefox because of, among many other things, the excessive memory footprint of Firefox. I don't think bundling it with bloated software like RealPlayer is the best way to improve that perception or problem.
Einstein, read the story again. Realplayer download will include firefox and will give users the option of installing firefox while they install realplayer. No one is embedding realplayer inside firefox.
Actually, you can get Quicktime without iTunes. There is a standalone installer (linked on the normal download page) that, once downloaded, does not require internet access to complete the installation and does not include anything but the Quicktime player. It is here:
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http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalon
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
:wq!
No, I'm not using Real Alternative, it's the real thing.
This is how it looks when I open a music file. See? Pretty simple, opens really fast, doesn't get in the way, good eye-candy, no ads.
This is how it looks in full-mode, with media library open. It is bit slow to open in my computer (PIII 1GHz), but that is also because of the large amount of music files in the DB. Anyway, I only use it when I specifically want to and that's not often. Again, I can't say much against it.
When I open a video, it looks the same way as when I open a music file, except it also shows... the video. All in the same window and the same I said before.
Actually, for those concerned with privacy, Real Player gives easy access to privacy control options. Just check the options screen.
There is also something called message center. I'm not sure what it is, because I turned it off right after install, but I guess those ads and pop-ups you talk about come through here. However, it is kids play to deactivate it. Just click on the option to do so.
I understand all the rage against Real, I shared it too when using the old players, but today it is way better. Not perfect, but much better. Ok, it might not come optimized for privacy, but with little effort you can do it. Really little effort, considering that, as it plays most media formats, you only have to configure one player. This is specially good with quicktime formats, because it also gives the benefit of full-screen video.