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Apple QuickTime DRM Disables Video Editing Apps
An anonymous reader writes "According to numerous posts on Apple's discussion forums (several threads of which have been deleted by Apple), as well as a number of popular video editing blogs, Apple's recent QT 7.4 update does more than just enable iTunes video rentals — it also disables Adobe's professional After Effects video editing software. Attempting to render video files after the update results in a DRM permissions error. Unfortunately, it is not possible to roll back to a previous version of QT without doing a full OSX reinstall. Previous QT updates have also been known to have severe issues with pro video editing apps."
Don't use Quicktime.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
i say we call the AG in every state to complain how Microsoft is disabling other apps with their updates
oh, wait
Never upgrade a production box without first upgrading on a test system. And NEVER NEVER upgrade mid project. If you're an individual and not a post production facility, test the upgrade on a separate partition or physical volume.
Or wait until everyone else gets the kinks worked out.
This is all common sense, and it's really not that hard. But you'd be surprised at the number of otherwise intelligent people that do stupid shit like upgrading a key component in the middle of a project. And if you absolutely must, do it on a cloned volume with backed up data.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Oh man, he got us good. With a burn like that, what could i possibly do...
Yet the apple fans cannot see it.
Without kdawson's helpful comments, I can't make my mind up - was this elitist or egalitarian?
If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
Use the recent Dtrace-fix kernel module to get tracing working, and trace the offending program until you find the error. Then write a kenel module to fix that.
--dave
davecb@spamcop.net
Have there been enough examples of Apple bricking things, DRMing stuff and generally being total asshats for us to give up on the "Apple are enlightened, wonderful and friendly to techies" meme yet?
Apple make shiny things for fashion victims. Apple make good UIs. Apple seem to have a better security model than MS.
But it's time to admit that Apple are just as much coprporate MP/RI-AA whores as MS.
We use VLC. Now if the Handbrake folks would get a clue and realize that 0.9.1 fuxxors (I haven't got to use that one for a while) .mkv files and stop blaming it on QT or VLC we'd be happier.
Mac - best damn video editing platform in the world.
Seriously - Apple in my experience pulls posts when their veracity can't be verified. Lord knows they keep plenty of very negative postings on their forums when the bug or whatever issue it is, is a known issue.
I'd stay tuned on this one - Apple has no reason to screw up 3rd party video editors and I certainly wouldn't build a conspiracy theory that its to boost their Video Rentals.
I bet this one is fixed pretty soon. I'll ante $0.25 on the bet.
Renting and watching videos should be enough for anyone
http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
Once you install quicktime updates on OSX you can't un-install them without re-installing the OS? WTF is all this hoopla about Windows Containing DRM/WMP11 crap but quicktime being worse? I mean WMP11/Vista DRM doesn't stop you from using Pro tools EVER. WMP11 is about 20 megs of code sitting around that can be replaced with another player.
Being a windows user another thing i can't stand is the stupid Apple Updater. No matter how you tell the program you don't want the f&**(@ installed it tries to update itself any chance it gets even if you just watch a quicktime.
I don't want iTunes, don't want Quicktime, don't want a broken browser and i certainly wouldn't support an OS that meant upgrades to a media player could potentially break your purchased apps functionality with the only recourse being a re-install. Thats so WIN NT 4 which is so TEN YEARS AGO.
Not trying to me a smacktard here, but if it purposely goes out and wacks another app, can't Adobe sue ?
Guns are for wimps... Use a crossbow.. this way you can pin them to their chair when you go postal.
Firstly, fair enough not being to uninstall an update to a product, but surely you'd expect to be able to fix the problem by uninstalling QuickTime? Is this problem caused by Apple virtually integrating it into the OS on Macs?
Secondly, I've never been happy with the way Apple seem to always deny issues by removing forum posts. This isn't the first time it's happened. I'd like to see them acknowledging their mistake and issuing a fix, rather than sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it doesn't exist.
Quicktime is in fact Mac OS's Audio and Video subsystem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicktime#QuickTime_framework
It's much more likely that updates to the underlying API are what's breaking After Effects etc, than updates to the media player bit.
Is the problem with, as some forum postings have suggested, the upgrade now checking for DRM on all .MOVs every 10 minutes which fubars the render of any MOVs? Or is it something else? The initial info makes it seem like any and ALL renders would fail; however, if it's only impacting certain formats, it may not impact every composition/project, etc. on which you're working. And I hate rendering anyways.
Please don't use "umm" or "err" or "erm".
Can't make a video in After Effects. So while I'm waiting for the bug fix, why not rent a movie from iTunes?
OH MY GOD!!! It's full of DRM!!! Run for your lives!!
The game.
All the error message says is "You do not have permission to open this file" - you know, like file permissions, like chmod. It could just be that Quicktime has accidentally set the wrong flags on a temporary file.
There are a lot of people very quick to jump on the bandwagon, saying "DRM this" and "Defective By Design that" but I see nothing to suggest this has anything to do with DRM. Even less to suggest this was a deliberate move by Apple. (And even then, the headline "Disables Video Editing Apps" is sensationalist - only one application seems to be affected).
So what remains as fact: Apple have a introduced a bug in an update to a shared library - so what? It's hardly the first time this has happened, on any OS. And maybe not even that - perhaps it's even possible that QuickTime is correct, and the change has just exposed a latent bug in AfterEffects? We just don't have the data to make a judgment, so perhaps everyone could calm down and stop acting like Apple is chained to Hollywood and making the sky fall in.
More the reason to support my argument and then some. We have foreign nations struggling to file suit against MS because of the ties that WMP has into Windows yet your sitting here telling me "QT is more then a media player" that it ties into the subsystem of OSX and once its there, you can't do anything about it except re-install?
Poor design if you ask me and thats a hell of a lot more vendor lockin than what MS does.
I'm not defending MS either, just trying to understand wtf is going on. I was about to give OSX the light of day but it doesn't seem to be any more practical than upgrading to Vista.
if Adobe has offices there, and a user there complains, they can take it to state court.
2 years in cooking school at Lino Lakes and $5000 is the shot for each offense.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
They took the two main selling points of a Mac: (1) "it just works", and (2) it being a great platform for creative work, and sacrificed *both* of those things on the altar of DRM.
I think they need to get back to "thinking different".
The article states this is in QT 7.4. My computer just popped up with the 7.6 update. Does anyone care to investigate why the two quick updates, or should we just leave this paranoid story on here because it's cool to rip on Apple?
Notwithstanding contractual consent by the person installing the program, this sounds like conversion: the unwanted and intentional interference with another's goods. In this case, a Mac owner is 1. unable to use the programs they otherwise would be able to use, having installed the upgrade to Quicktime; and 2. unable to undo the harm caused by the installation of the program without the time intensive and expensive reinstallation of the operating system.
Even though it is technically given by the click-through agreement, I believe consent is tenuous; intentionally and willfully misleading individuals about the value of the upgrade (or tying DRM to the upgrade's necessity, such as the constant bombardment of news that generates fear over security holes) undermines a person's ability to consent - there is a fundamental mistake in the formation of the contract: Quicktime upgrades should not break other software. This is especially true if you are a developer.
One would imagine some legal remedy to this. The facts as I have just read them indicate a behaviour that is grossly unfair to consumers, nigh an appalling disregard for the preferences and rights of ones' own customers.
All that being said, I'm certain this will be remedied soon, or customers will flock to alternatives (or form the incentive for others to create alternatives).
Apple is notorious for stuff like this. They have all sorts of shared components (like QuickTime, FxPlug, etc) that they update independently from each other. I develop for Final Cut Pro and Motion, and the last time I installed a beta for them, they installed a component which broke QuickTime. Now I can't launch the QuickTime player, iTunes, iMovie, or any other app that relies on certain QuickTime codecs, without them crashing immediately. Recent updates to QuickTime haven't fixed the problem either. And of course you can't uninstall anything without reinstalling the OS. Look around - there are plenty of people asking for the "Quicktime deinstaller" which does exist but has its own problems.
Between stuff like this and having to essentially port my code every time they release a new version of OS X, and the constant switching between processor architectures, APIs, UI design requirements, etc. all I can say is it REALLY sucks being a Mac developer.
Full discussion on http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1342677&start=30&tstart=0, which makes the summary quite lame. The fact that subtitles also broke with QT 7.4 does say something though..
Quick to OSX is somewhat akin to what Internet Explorer is/was to Windows. It has in some cases deep ties with the OS, and modifying it therefore can change the behavior of the OS or other apps.
Quicktime is Apple's underlying media subsystem. It's not bolted on. The Quicktime Player is bolted on to wrap the functions and play videos. The Quicktime Pro program that they sell enables editing. There is no lock-in, because anyone can provide a media layer, and anyone can access Quicktime. Even Realbasic Apps can bundle Quicktime and do whatever they want. You could write your own media player with it's own DRM and send content to Quicktime (although hackers would grab the unencrypted layer inside of Quicktime).
There should be a way to roll-back the Quicktime update, because the Package should limit changes to the Quicktime Framework and Quicktime Player apps, but I don't know that there isn't Quicktime code everywhere. It should still exist, but it's not a media player, and it's not vendor lockin.
MS gets nailed for Vendor lock-in for bundling not core programs and not letting them be removed. On a Mac, if I don't want Safari, Quicktime Player, iTunes, etc., I just drag the Application to the trash and I never see it again. I still have the underlying OS Components of WebKit (I think that it's an OS Level Framework now) and Quicktime, but I don't have the applications. Microsoft REFUSED to allow the deletion of IE/WMP, and when forced by the courts to provide a version without them, removed the underlying OS components to break Windows.
That's why MS's bundling behavior was problematic, and Apples not so much. Apple lets you remove applications you want without hosing the OS. MS refused to let you remove the application without removing the OS Components, and you NEED media capability even if you don't want WMP, and you NEED the HTML component, because many applications use it once you make it a standard OS Component.
..how, whenever Apple fucks something up, Slashdot fills up with comments taking shots at the "Apple Fanboys" and their supposed zealous defense of Apple.
"Just wait, the Apple Fanboys will blame this all on Microsoft"
"But all the fanboys said this was unpossible!"
"Ooh, the fanboys will be crying over this one!"
I've yet to actually see one of these fanboys.
The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
This whole "QT" thing bewilders me. I don't know whether to mindlessly flame Apple or KDE...
But Apple doesn't always remove negative posts. Here is a huge thread on some major bugs in their Airport Extreme Base Station, with over 20,000 views and 300+ replies. It has been around for a few months now.
People like to jump on Apple for removing posts, however their forum has some pretty clear rules on what is considered acceptable and what isn't. Usually deleted threads/posts are done so for a reason. If that person, or another, re-wrote the post to follow the guidelines it would very likely stay. Yes, Apple's moderators are a bit more - zealous - than on other forums, but they are not some weird underground conspiracy group, they are just trying to keep the forums focused and friendly.
Shawn's Tech Articles
Just wondering, all of a sudden my DVD/CD burner makes coasters for me and there isn't anything different on my computer. I've refused I-Tunes desires to update for a month or so but maybe it slipped something in to screw with my other apps as well? This is not cool.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
Apple has extensive testing, and QT is one of the more extensively tested systems. All the major programs are in a test matrix. It doesn't take THAT much effort to do a basic run on say, a dozen or so major apps - an afternoon is all it takes, really.
A minimal test matrix would be a grid with check boxes and comments.
FCP
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
iMovie
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
Premiere
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
After Effects
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
iDVD
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
DVD SP
open (Y/N) open new project (Y/N) open old project (Y/N) capture video (Y/N) process video (Y/N) export to tape (Y/N) export to QT file (Y/N)
etc. It isn't fucking rocket science, and a single failure on ANY of that is/should be enough to delay the project. I can't imagine someone in QT QA signed off knowing 7.4 would break Adobe AE. While QT does have a prod schedule, it's not like it's tied to NAB like FCP, or the Dev conferences like other apple apps and systems. And it's not like it's some huge number of man hours to fix it. Apple has a software library FILLED to the gunnels with all the minty goodness and this kind of testing is something they do. My guess is someone fucked up and either check AE as working without testing it, or its simply didn't get tested in some imaginary rush to get the latest rev out the door. Either way, some flunky's going to get a lot of heat.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
The best option is ALWAYS to not use Quicktime.
Just say NO.
Friends don't let friends use Apple software. Or IBM software.
or like Microsoft every month or so.
First Leopard had Vista-like bugs, then Time Machine got broken due to bugs, and now Quicktime had bugs that disable video editing software.
Where will it end?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Just curious - as most seem to have just shrugged this off and purchased a new license of QuickTime Pro last time this happened. Now, granted, it's hardly the most expensive piece of software in the world - but one would think people would be a little less eager to just roll over?
The problem is just people misusing products and doing what they are not supposed to (like jailbroken iPhones) then getting fussy when they get spanked.
I learned this lesson well in 2005 when I gleefully preordered and upgraded to Tiger only to find out that After Effects 5's non-standard use of Quicktime APIs resulted in highly unstable audio with the new version of QT that came with the OS. Just scrubbing video back and forth inside the app would produce Quicktime errors, and the only way to get a complete render was to render without audio and add the soundtrack in afterward.
I don't trust Adobe or Apple to be in sync on this stuff.
Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
I hope you were "trying" to be funny if not... You OBVIOUSLY have NO IDEA how Macs work. Not using QT in Windows is an option but is certainly not with a Mac. Every app is hooked to the Quicktime libraries from iTunes, and the rest of the iLife apps, to the Finder itself.
;)
That like saying don't use the Explorer in Windows. Could it be done? Maybe. Is it practical? NO.
Also QT is not just a player it is an editor. Windows Media player is garbage in comparison across the board and still has the same type DRM. In Macs, as it is Windows, you can bypass the DRM if you work hard enough. I am guessing Streamclip would take care of this issue.
Since many Adobe products now require product activation (not sure about After Effects specifically), you may not be able to do an OS reinstall without a phone call to Adobe to plead with them to let you reinstall your software.
defective by design....o wait, it's an apple product.....scratch that......NEW FEATURE!!!!
Everyone always tells me that the way Linux and Windows handle shared libraries is wrong, and that Apple has fixed it through the magic of application bundles. If that is the case, then how do you explain this?
Something fitting. I like the idea of tying "evil empire" to the three beasts: Google, Microsoft and Apple. If not tie it to Google, then at least give it to Apple and Microsoft. They're both deserving of it.
"Windows Media player is garbage in comparison across the board and still has the same type DRM."
You may have a point but, the WMP updates have never borked your Windows system to the point where you need to re-install the OS to get functionality that it broke working again. Funnily enough, "it just works".
Can you see the new Mac/PC commercial?
PC:"Hi. I'm a PC."
MAC:"Hi I'm a Mac I'm a Mac I'm a Mac I'm a Mac"
PC:"Gee Mac, looks like your video is stuck in a loop"
MAC:"I know. I installed an update to Quicktime and now I can't edit videos anymore!"
"But this one goes to 11!"
...or at least sell stuff to you, because I don't think there's many places, ESPECIALLY video editing shops, that have all this extra equipment which perfectly mirrors their production equipment, that they can do these tests on, let alone the time and/or personnel to mirror/clone drives, test updates, etc. I've been there, done that in an advertising agency for 13 years, and we barely had IT budgets to make stuff work, let alone have 2x of everything.
At a certain point, you have to trust the vendor to produce stuff that isn't badly broken.
IMHO, as a person who likes his Apple products (Macbook, iPod, iTunes), I think Apple has been remodeled too much along the lines of a consumer electronics company where bugs, broken features and planned obsolescence are the norm, rather than as a computer company where there's some general expectation of only-slightly-broken software.
Looks like most of the issues are fixed by this released today. http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/aftereffects/Adobe_After_Effects_CS3_8_0_2_Read_Me.pdf
I have a problem new to me, you know, the burner refuses to work any longer. Put an external Plextor drive on and it works but the regular installed DVD burner doesn't work any longer. This story has to do with installing an app and it breaking other apps. Seems similar to my mind. I love my Apple stuff, I Tunes is great for organizing music and I especially like the organization of podcasts and online radio stations. Great stuff but the article talks about Apple having installed an update that breaks other things, - I have another thing that is recently broken - so I ask a question and perhaps someelse has an insight or knowledge that I don't have - so whoever said I'm a troll - Go F yourself.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
WMP != QuickTime
Quicktime is a full layer of AV applications. It's not just a player.
No, a better comparison would be, have any IE updates every borked your Windows system? And the answer would of course be yes.
Oh, wait.
"have any IE updates every borked your Windows system?"
No, I have never had any IE update remove basic functionality from the OS that the only remedy was re-installing the OS. IE can be rolled back to previous versions simply by uninstalling the updates. I have had updates from MS that have broken things before, sure - but never to the point where and entire re-installation of Windows was necessary, and that was my point.
"But this one goes to 11!"
This DRM crap will cost you everything the Apple has gained in the last 5 years.
You know DRM can't work, complicates the works, and only hurts the law abiding.
Sincerely yours,
Reality.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
that "It Just Works."
I doubt that's true, else what is time machine for? Surely if it's worth a damn, it (time machine) can roll you back to pre-upgrade status ...
There is a straight forward way to downgrade without OS reinstall. Google "downgrade quicktime 7.4 to 7.3" and you will find the instructions. It is not too difficult. You need the installer file and Pacifist. Not the most elegant solution, but which quicker than OS reinstall. This might be in other comments as well, so sorry if this is repetitive. Despite the uproar, I really wonder what the impact is? During the period when Abobe was not updating video apps for the Mac, we switched to Combustion and Motion for our motion graphics work. When Adobe came back to the market and our CS3 suite came with the video apps, we installed them, but no one in my shop uses them anymore. If you want to gripe, the recent FCP upgrade that changed file formats so projects were not backwards compatible was a much bigger headache, and it was one line buried in the changes document, whereas it should have been a prominent point at the top, and I would have heartily endorsed the use of the blink tag for this. One other question, the summary states that video apps are involved, but AE is the only one I have heard about, which other applications are affected?
Damn Microsoft!!!
It must be nice to develop on certain types of hardware with no variables so you dont have to worry about screwing something up.
Oh wait?
At least you have a choice as to whether or not you want to upgrade when Apple releases an update. Unlike Microsoft.
I always have a choice. We have our own Windows Update Server where I work that only sends the updates we choose to push out. I don't blindly trust anyone.
"But this one goes to 11!"
Now we're talking apples and oranges. In a corporate environment with an IT department, you should never run into a situation where an update (from Microsoft, Apple or anyone else) hoses a system because said update will be properly tested and only rolled out once IT confirms that there aren't any issues with it.
Average consumers don't have that luxary. Updates are pushed out by Apple and Microsoft, and in Apple's case, you get a choice as to whether or not you want to install said update, that has proven to not always be the case with Microsoft.
As a Mac user, I can say at QuickTime (since I used my first computer in the 8th grade) has always been the blemish on an otherwise positive Macintosh experience. I've always found it to be slow, buggy, and always full of compatibility issues. Why not create a rather standard Quicktime subsystem, and simply have pluggable codecs for the difference revisions of QuickTime, that way you get backward compatibility and connectivity to other applications. If you're going to have QT be essentially an OS service, it should be pretty static between major OS versions (at least in the areas where it is a dependency of OS components, or a dependency of major applications using the API, not unsupported hacks).
Have the player attach the the rather static subsystem so you can add GUI features, abilities, etc... in incremental versions.
This would allow QT PRO users to take advantage of everything QT 7.4 can do, but allow Applications that depend upon it to be "frozen" to QT 7.x that it works for, until the vendor pushes a patch. I could see after an application crash, it contact the vendor and on next launch recommend attaching to the greatest "known working" quicktime engine, as the default choice, but listing all supported quicktime instances, so developers could choose the level of compatibility they require.
It would be kind of like the idea where OO.org lets you choose the JVM installation you want to use.
The biggest problem is that performing a QuickTime upgrade is a major OS change in the Mac OS, and often leads to incompatibilites (better on OS X, terrible with = OS 9.x's and its extension madness). Users tend to look at upgrading QT just like Flash player, but on the Mac in particular, it should be seen more like a service pack on Windows.
Forgive my spelling from time to time. I'm often posting during short breaks.
You have a choice on the Microsoft updates also. You can either - automatically download and install the updates, download the updates and choose when/which ones to install, inform you that updates are available but do not download automatically, or do nothing. The choice is up to the user to set it the way they want it to work. There is no such thing as a MS update that automatically installs if you specifically tell it not to. So counter to your belief, there is a choice whether or not updates are automatically installed, and they user has control over that choice.
"But this one goes to 11!"
Easy, Don't use FCP or AE.
:-)
Switch to Sony Vegas on a PC.
Flame on!
Apple has a time schedule and profits to consider. 3rd party support will always be there. It won't move because the Mac is a great platform (when it works).
So Apple said "get it out the door" at the cost of quality. Apple *WILL PROFIT* apart from this.
The 3rd party people will be fixed, the iTunes store will gain 4-21% in revenue and Apple will make millions.
We all make decisions like this. Speed, price, quality. Pick two. Apple chose the former two.
Seriously, is there anyone who's surprised at this? I own a MacBook Pro, but I don't have any illusions about Apple not being a bunch of scumbags. I mean, look at their rich tradition of suing rumor sites. Apple is evil, but they make good stuff. I might as well go and buy from another manufacturer, who is evil as well, but then I don't have a cleaner conscience and I don't get to use OS X.
Of course you can build your own computer, but you still support a good bunch of evil companies because someone needs to manufacture the parts you're building with. If you don't want to support evil corporations you need to abandon pretty much everything our society is about.
Yeah, our society is somewhat broken.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
You can simply download an older version of quicktime, like 7.3.x, and use the package extractor Pacifist to install the older version. I had issues with the update, and went back this way. Totally fixed the problems.
So what does this have to do with DRM exactly? Looks like a bug to me...
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=426676&cid=22146228
First the DTrace nonsense and then not 48 hours later, presto - something that does what we all feared... Jobs put Microsoft levels of DRM on the machine once most users, who sadly aren't smart enough to know how to fix the DTrace limitation and then hack the QuickTime to turn the DRM off, have "upgraded". And, no, this isn't even typical computer geek level of fixing - it's technical, so 95%+ of Macs are just not going to be fixed by the average user.
Don't forget that Apple is exactly like Microsoft except that Jobs has ten times the charisma of Gates.
Yet another reason to move to something else. Forced upgrades, DRM, spy and nanny-ware... It's becoming painful to deal with either of them at this point.
Must be a Windows-specific thing. On OS X, Software Update just offered me up iTunes 7.6 and the new QT as separate items. I've installed iTunes but not QT. All seems to be running fine.
"We live in a global world" - Harvey Pitt, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
Clearly this QT issue is a bug, not an intentional DRM limitation. Don't be a douche and play this like Apple INTENDED to disable AE due to DRM policy.
I also understand how useful dtrace can be, and while allowing processes to opt out of tracing is somewhat unfortunate from certain points of view, HOW does it make Apple as vile as you make them out to be?
Jobs isn't an angle, Apple is a business, they want your money. Tell us something we don't know. Their products speak for themselves, and the fact that they ported dtrace AT ALL says a lot. Apple's DRM policies and implementations are far less restricting than Microsoft's. I dare you to prove otherwise. Go ahead, bring out the worst of Leopard DRM against the worst of Vista DRM, lets compare right here and now.
You've just got an axe to grind, buddy.
I was just talking to a buddy of mine this morning, who's been doing multimedia stuff on Macs for decades. Apple has really been out to lunch with their software lately. Look at the latest iMovie. They cripple it and remove a ton of features so that users actually prefer the previous version. It won't even run on my buddy's Mac because he has some MPEG2 files. iMovie tries to index his hard drive on startup (WTF?), it finds the MPEG2s and pukes. It's ridiculous.
It seems like in shifting it's focus to consumer electronics Apple has really been dropping the ball on its software development. Although the incompatibility problems between Quicktime versions goes back to day 1 (or day 2, I suppose).
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
WMP11/Vista DRM has nothing to do with Pro Tools' audio rendering, not to mention that Pro Tools uses a hardware dongle for its own copy protection, which is about the most annoying form of DRM. Good luck if you ever lose or break your iLok key! Conversely, almost all forms of video playback or rendering in someway interface with Quicktime on a Mac. In this way, Quicktime on a Mac is more like DirectX than WMP. iTunes and Quicktime Player (among others) are the actual front end apps that utilize Quicktime. Note, that Quicktime on Windows is a bit different. Its more like an additional API/framework as opposed to the main subsystem that all media output goes through, like it is on a Mac. Oh, and you can't actually 'replace' WMP11 on Windows. You can install an alternate player like MPlayer or VLC... which can also be installed on a Mac.
Being a windows user another thing i can't stand is the stupid Apple Updater. No matter how you tell the program you don't want the f&**(@ installed it tries to update itself any chance it gets even if you just watch a quicktime.
Actually, it VERY easy to decline an update and not have it pop up again... in fact, its simpler that doing the same in Windows Update:
1. In Software Update click on the update you do not want to show again so it is highlight it
2. Press the 'delete' key or go to Update -> Ignore Update...
3. Click OK on the confirmation dialog.
I don't want iTunes, don't want Quicktime, don't want a broken browser and i certainly wouldn't support an OS that meant upgrades to a media player could potentially break your purchased apps functionality with the only recourse being a re-install. Thats so WIN NT 4 which is so TEN YEARS AGO.
Nobody is forcing you to use iTunes, or even Quicktime if you're on a PC. But like I said, not having Quicktime on a Mac would be the same as not having DirectX on Windows. Its a subsystem, not a player, and if it wasn't there something else would have to be in its place. You could always use Realplayer, or MPlayer, or VLC. Broken Browser? Safari 2.0.2 was released on Oct 31st 2005 and was the first offical build of a web browsers that could past the Acid2 test. Here we are in 2008 and it looks like IE8 (not out yet) will not be making the cut. Oh, and a DirectX update has NEVER broken Windows functionality? *insert sarcasm* Give me a break! Just take a look at all the things that DirectX 10 isn't compatible with... like Windows XP or DirectX 9 graphics cards!
Oh, and in case you haven't notice, Apple would love nothing more than to do away with DRM.
Some people have very short memories.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
So what is the evidence that conclusively shows that this has something to do with DRM?
Note, BTW, that one Adobe person says that "We're working with Apple to resolve the problem".
In part I agree with you - if Apple make a mistake they should be held responsible and they should fix it.
Interestingly, Adobe have already released an update:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=13&platform=Macintosh
Now, why would Adobe release a fix if Apple screwed up? It could be that either Adobe screwed up and their code relied on some undocumented API behaviour or that Apple changed the APIs and Adobe updated their app to support the new APIs.
Regardless of which it is, it doesn't look like a testing issue or a simple screw-up by Apple.
So, uh, could you please point me to the part of that document that you think refers to fixing DRM permissions errors in QuickTime 7.4? Because I've scoured through it at least three times in two different languages and I still can't find it.
In my company (ArKaos) we now have to use FFMPEG for several codecs and implement a complete Netscape Host to be able to decompress flash animations.
:-(
This situation is a complete nightmare but hopefully there are solutions if you want to continue to develop video software on the Mac.
Implementing a Flash Host to overcome the Flash disaster of the 7.3.1 was not very easy even if the examples are on the web and the WebKit / Firefox source code is available.
If Apple would support better the developers our life would be so much easier, for once we almost would prefer to be exclusively on windows
In cyberspace nobody knows you're a cat!
It only mentions the fixes in the version you couldn't read.
It's called software. The older a piece of software is and the more downstream dependencies it has the harder it is to change the software without breaking something. Microsoft's historical success is now Microsoft's historical burden - Apple's development process is now being affected by the success and age of OS X, but it's still a jetski compare to the oil tanker that is Microsoft.
Both need to get out of the software business and stick to the only thing they do well: hardware. Apple can keep making iPods and design the next generation of trendy PC cases, and Microsoft, well... keyboards and mice is about it for them.
That's ridiculous. Any smart user knows to wait two weeks before installing any Apple updates. Maybe one week if you're in a hurry for some reason. Then, if there are no reports of massive issues, proceed with the update. Installing their updates as they're released is just asking for trouble.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Carbon Copy Cloner..
DONT EVER.. and I repeat EVER install any of their
software disabl-er-uh updates, without making a
clone of your boot drive.
When running Mac OS X it's pretty much S.O.P. kinda
like using a condom when you're with a hooker!
Sorry for replying to my own post, but I've since found out that this patch does not correct the QuickTime bug, making my parent post invalid.
Looks more like an Apple screw-up than anything else right now.
Sorry for replying to my own post, but I've since found out that this patch does not correct the QuickTime bug, making the first part of my parent post invalid. It looks more like an Apple screw-up than anything else right now.
I stand by my other comments about the grandparent though.
The whole DRM construct seems to be based around the assumption the user is guilty and all imposition or error must be put up with and no one is accountable for it. Apple (or any vendor) shold be required to compensate - in cash - users who suffer the loss of access to REAL function they have paid for.....as they have suffered REAL losses....while there is no proof that a downloader would have paid for any of the content s/he downloads. I recently went through the 440+ VINYL LPs I bought in the 1980s....and there would be perhaps 50 LPs there I would have *really* bought had I heard all that what was on them before buying them. I just didn't have the time to stand around in record stores for hours and hours listening to stuff I then wasn't going to buy. These days, when I buy music, I *know* want to pay for it.
Only boring people are ever bored.
Wait. Video editing software made by a third party is now classified as basic functionality? When did this happen?
Sendmail is like emacs: A nice operating system, but missing an editor and a MTA.
The service Quicktime provides on a Mac to third party applications is basic functionality.
This isn't Windows. Quicktime is important on Macs.
thankfully, there is no central point of attack for the **AA to impose their DRM agenda on, when the OS is by-the-people-for-the-people.
-
Because Linux does not support DRM? I find it kind of interesting that the Linux kernel supports trusted computing, while Mac OS X does not.
In our ideal World, Apple has lots of machines having freely installed (donated by vendor) Adobe, AVID, Cleaner stuff and they also have couple of top downloaded freeware/shareware. When they package new final build update, they are testing it against those very critical apps which is the core pro business of Apple to see if any obvious horrible failure happens. If it happens, they call/mail their internal contact from respective company to release a fix or help diagnosing issue.
Are we really making this up? Or is it "If it compiles, ship it" ?
I better tell again for Video pros: You should be using a secured (firewall, _offline_ virus scan,local network connected only) Apple machine with ONLY recommended, tested OS X build by your vendor. You aren't a iPhone or Apple TV user to jump to all updates. For example if you are a AVID professional user, you should check this page: http://www.avid.com/onlinesupport/supportcontent.asp?productID=97&contentID=9941&browse= .
See, they say:
Avid Xpress Pro 5.7.2 (Jun 07) OS 10.4.9 QuickTime 7.1.6
There are lots of good people out there, so it stands to reason there are lots of good companies, too. I shop for groceries at Whole Foods, and use Red Hat's community Linux distro with the Mozilla Foundation's web browser and Google's free homepage.
If you desperately need something made by teh ebil, there's always eBay, Craigslist and Freecycle. People buy more new things than they need and they throw things out all the time; buying used helps make sure that things don't go to waste. It's sort of like recycling, except that it saves you money. And it doesn't directly support the people that you don't like.
and Classic Mac OS.
So you are saying that the code in OSX is older than the code in Windows?
Windows Vista is Microsoft attempt to rewrite parts of the OS, but I think it still has code that goes back to Windows NT and MS-DOS.
Mac OSX is based on *BSD Unix code, the Mach kernel, NextOS, and the classic Mac OS (or at least Carbon is based on it). I think Mac OSX was necessary because Classic Mac OS was heading to a dead-end and taking a Unix route was the best thing that Apple can do.
Still, Linux is older than OSX, but it doesn't seem to have the problems that Leopard has. Could it be that it also has to do with the way the OS is managed, or the way the OS development is managed? Like is Linus able to make better management decisions with Linux and the Linux kernel than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs does for their OS projects?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
and someone is getting his butt chewed by his supervisor. I used to work at Apple testing video stuff, so I know (I got my butt chewed a few times).
Wait, so you're saying they were playing ping-pong, and it's not because they're overworked and understaffed, and Apple doesn't value QA anymore?
You got your butt chewed for being lazy or stupid? If stupid, their systems didn't have enough checks (unintended double entendre...) If lazy, then, yeah.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
It can only make pictures in the bright sun or enough flash illumination. Everything else - impossible noise and smth. like 640x480 effective resolution. Only the case looks good. :-)
So I would like to know more about these CCDs, may be the one in my camera comes from Apple?
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
Apple > /dev/null & Microsoft > /dev/null
World Fixed.
Bye Apple & Microsoft.
It Seems You Just Like Stuffing Everyone Up For Your Hollywood Pals.