... or you can choose to forgo Windows Media Player entirely...
Now that Winamp3 is out, there's no reason to use Windows Media player. Winamp3 plays.WMA audio files,.WMV video files, and.ASF streaming files (audio and/or video), if the codecs are installed on your PC (and they are if Windows Media Player's installed). Winamp wants to send "anonymous" user information back to the mother ship, but you can turn that "feature" off.
Plus there are free MP3 rippers available at NoNags.
The problem, of course, is that new Wintel owners don't know what they're getting into - all they know is that Windows Media Player is already there, so why not use it.
Why would anyone pay $99 for a Linux distro (esp. one that's in beta) when for $20 to $50 they could buy RedHat, which is very user-friendly, bundled with a book on how to use it, or just d/l it off the net at no cost? If they bought a PC with Lindows installed, why would they pay $99 to access a library of apps that are free for downloading elsewhere? Can't people figure out that what Lindows is offering, they can get elsewhere for free?
If people want MS Windows compatibility, why wouldn't they take their $99 and spend a bit more to buy Windows?
I just don't get it.
Add to that Michael Robertson's comments about Linux developers eating their young by demanding to see Lindows source code, and the graphics on Lindow's "Click-N-Run Warehouse Showroom" web page with KDE apps with X's through prices - $339 for a word processor? No, it's free! - and my skeptical assessment is that Lindows is using Microsoft marketing tactics, and Lindows probably won't be around for long.
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Oh, they knew about it. They'd already hired Martha Stewart.
Right, 'cause Unix don't have Penix.
(Ouch.)
Now that Winamp3 is out, there's no reason to use Windows Media player. Winamp3 plays .WMA audio files, .WMV video files, and .ASF streaming files (audio and/or video), if the codecs are installed on your PC (and they are if Windows Media Player's installed). Winamp wants to send "anonymous" user information back to the mother ship, but you can turn that "feature" off.
Plus there are free MP3 rippers available at NoNags.
The problem, of course, is that new Wintel owners don't know what they're getting into - all they know is that Windows Media Player is already there, so why not use it.
Why would anyone pay $99 for a Linux distro (esp. one that's in beta) when for $20 to $50 they could buy RedHat, which is very user-friendly, bundled with a book on how to use it, or just d/l it off the net at no cost? If they bought a PC with Lindows installed, why would they pay $99 to access a library of apps that are free for downloading elsewhere? Can't people figure out that what Lindows is offering, they can get elsewhere for free?
If people want MS Windows compatibility, why wouldn't they take their $99 and spend a bit more to buy Windows?
I just don't get it.
Add to that Michael Robertson's comments about Linux developers eating their young by demanding to see Lindows source code, and the graphics on Lindow's "Click-N-Run Warehouse Showroom" web page with KDE apps with X's through prices - $339 for a word processor? No, it's free! - and my skeptical assessment is that Lindows is using Microsoft marketing tactics, and Lindows probably won't be around for long.