Microsoft Re-Brands PlaysForSure

mikesd81 writes "Information Week writes about a licensing change intended to 'beat Apple at their own game'. They're going to use a combination of branding and DRM, and replace the "PlaysForSure" logo with a "Certified for Windows Vista" tag.'The certification is used to guarantee compatibility with Microsoft's copyright-protection software and is the same logo used for the company's Zune player. The problem, however, is that music and video bought from the online Zune Marketplace won't play in their native format on other devices, including those that will carry the new logo.'"

Comments

Maybe better?

[Midnight Thunder]

Given that only Windows could handle PlayForSure, and that Microsoft was unlikely to let any other OS developers have the necessary licenses, maybe this is clearer. Maybe its clearer that this form of lock-in requires Microsoft Windows. Either way, its DRM and its nasty.

Re:Yeah...

[mabhatter654]

don't blame the article... that is EXACTLY what Microsoft is doing!!!! Putting the same "compatibility" sticker on PfS and Zune, when they are clearly not compatible.

Re:Certified confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

Believe me, I'm no MS supporter - but you overly smug Apple fanbois seem to forget that MS pumped in a whole heap of money into Apple at one point to basically keep them solvent. I didn't hear many of you fanbois moaning at MS then!

Go troll somewhere else. How many times must it be told that $150 million investment from MS was to settle a patent dispute after MS got caught red handed stealing QuickTime code? FYI, at the time of the investment, Apple had $4 billion cash. They might have bled money before Jobs came back, but they are far, far from being insolvent.

Re:Certified confusion

[AJWM]

MS pumped in a whole heap of money into Apple at one point to basically keep them solvent

Uh, if you mean the paltry $128M or so that Microsoft paid Apple for some non-voting, non-dividend stock back in the 90s, Apple had a couple of $Billion in the bank at the time. AAPL stock price was tanking because of lousy management, not lack of cash.

The money was actually a settlement of some lawsuits by Apple at the time, the "investment" thing was a face-saving figleaf that Gates required if Apple ever wanted to see another version of Office for Mac.

And yes, there were plenty of Apple fanbois moaning about it and accusing Apple of selling out.

Re:Certified confusion

[GaryPatterson]

No, you're wrong about Microsoft keeping Apple solvent.

Apple were being called "beleaguered" and "struggling" by a media hooked on those terms but the fact is that had around 2 billion dollars in cash reserves, were just about to launch the iMac, the iPod was in the works and the company was working hard on getting OS X into a public beta state. The company was struggling to get past the crap left by a bunch of poor CEOs and to raise their image, but not struggling financially.

You would have heard a lot of the Apple fans booing Gates when his video appeared on stage, if you'd seen a clip. Many of the more zealot-y people were very upset indeed about any deal, or Microsoft's money (which was settling a few patent disputes and a bit of stolen Quicktime code). I liked the idea of certainty around Office releases, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't alone in that.

Microsoft's $150M in non-voting stock was reparations and a gesture, and they made a very tidy profit when the sold a few years later. Of course, if they'd held on that money would have been worth quite a few billion by now - Apple's stock was around $16 (from memory) and while it's now around $190 it has split a few times. They'd have made more profit than their entertainment division has in its entire life.

But I guess all that doesn't fit your poor memory and doesn't help you throw around terms like "overly smug Apple fanbois." You were correctly moderated as "-1 troll" although I'd like to think you can learn better.

Re:Plays for not at all?

[cgenman]

Apple:

1. Apple creates proprietary iTunes schema, as none such existed in the market. Sticks with it for ten years. Starts to transition to universal MP3's.

Microsoft:

1. Microsoft creates proprietary PlaysForSure schema in response to apple. Partners with lots of companies to push as an proprietary but licenceable standard. Sells PlaysForSure tracks on MSN.com.

2. Microsoft abandons PlaysForSure, destroying the standard. Microsoft instead sells the Zune, with zune-specific music tracks.

3. Microsoft sticks PlaysForSure and Zune DRM together as "Certified for Vista." Except that things which are all "Certified for Vista" will play with Vista, but won't actually play with eachother. And it will play with non-Vista things. Right.

So the music player with an estimated 2% of the market is paired with an OS that has 6%. Good luck with that!