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Microsoft Endorsement Raises Questions on Windows Media Player for Mac Future

Microsoft Endorsement Raises Questions on Windows Media Player for Mac Future

by , 7:00 AM EST, January 13th, 2006

It has been more than two years since Microsoft released Windows Player 9 for Mac OS X. Since then, Microsoft has shipped version 10 for Windows—complete with digital rights management, HD, and 5.1 support, among other features—and has been developing version 11, which will ship as part of Windows Vista.

Against this backdrop of a lack of updates, reminiscent of the company's stagnant approach to Internet Explorer for Mac, Microsoft this week began offering customers Telestream's Flip4Mac QuickTime component as a download from Microsoft's site.

The Flip4Mac endorsement and free download casts doubt on the future of Windows Media Player for Mac. While QuickTime Player is a more natural fit for Mac users, there remains a demand for features found in Windows Media Player 10, including support for the DRM many music stores use and HD content, especially since many sites and services rely exclusively on the technology. Flip4Mac only supports versions of Windows Media up to 9.

Microsoft Tuesday announced a renewed five-year commitment to the Mac, but the pledge only spans Office:mac and Messenger, which the Mac Business Unit develop. Windows Media Player development is handled by Microsoft's Windows Media Team.

Windows Media Player 9 remains available as a download for Mac OS X but it is uncertain how long this will continue. Microsoft discontinued Internet Explorer for Mac last year and will stop providing the software as a download later this year.

At press time, Microsoft had yet to respond to requests for comment.

Update: CNET has received word from Microsoft that development of Windows Media Player for Mac has officially ended.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:jimothy Posts: 612 Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:37 am Subject: No question

According to News.com/ZDNET, there's no question: Microsoft has stopped development of WMP for Mac. (Let's all shed a tear, shall we?)

Of course, this doesn't mean that Microsoft might not someday license the WMP 10 codecs and DRM to Telestream.


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:22 am Subject: This is a Good Thing

WMP for Mac was a hideous beast that needed to be put out of its (and our) misery. Thank God I can finally drop that app in the trash where it belongs.

P.S. I paid for Flip4Mac a couple weeks ago (I have uncanny timing), and it works flawlessly. This is a win-win-win situation.


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Close Name:Websnap Posts: 75 Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:34 am Subject: WMA radio streams

How would this effect audio streams? I listen to a Radio Stream fairly regularly through WMP, will this be done through quicktime now or do I just continue doing what I am doing using the current version?


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Close Name:Planeten Paultje Posts: 71 Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:43 am Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
I paid for Flip4Mac a couple weeks ago (I have uncanny timing), and it works flawlessly. This is a win-win-win situation.
So did I. I got a $20 voucher in the mail recently, nice people .


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:37 pm Subject: Savvy

Yeah, that schocked - SHOCKED - me. Of course, I'm gonna take that voucher and use it toward their 29.99 upgrade. Nice people - but savvy as well.

Quote
Planeten Paultje wrote:
Quote
Guest wrote:
I paid for Flip4Mac a couple weeks ago (I have uncanny timing), and it works flawlessly. This is a win-win-win situation.
So did I. I got a $20 voucher in the mail recently, nice people .


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:37 pm Subject: Problem with QuickTime and Podner

I loved Flip4Mac when I first installed it. It worked flawlessly in my browser (Safari) with WM from Netflix. However, I discovered that it has incompatability problems with QuickTime and Podner. Examples of problems encountered: Using EXPORT or SHARE in QuickTime bombs. In the program Podner, it gave the erroneous error message that the movie was protected and therefore couldn't be copied. The movie was not protected - it was from my own camera. Anyway, after using the UNINSTALL program Flip4Mac includes, QuickTime and Podner are now up and running again without these problems. I hope Flip4Mac fixes these incompatibility issues because it really is a neat program to have and does work quite well all by itself. It just doesn't play well with others, shall we say...


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Close Name:reznorb5 Posts: 23 Joined: 24 Mar 2003
Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:08 pm Subject: Radio Streams

Streams work also, via QuickTime's open URL command.

Quote
Websnap wrote:
How would this effect audio streams? I listen to a Radio Stream fairly regularly through WMP, will this be done through quicktime now or do I just continue doing what I am doing using the current version?


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:41 pm Subject: worked great

down loaded flip4mac and tested it using netflix site, worked great. next i'm going to test it on comedy central.


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Close Name:Rainy Day Posts: 607 Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:15 am Subject: So long M$

So long M$… don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

Pretty soon, M$ will be totally irrelevant and QuickTime will rule. I give it two years, max.


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Close Name:Guest
Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:31 pm Subject: windows media/drm

does this mean to view content protected under DRM
and using wmp version 9
that a mac cannot do that...
and will never be able to do that...


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Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:21 pm Subject: Re: windows media/drm

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
does this mean to view content protected under DRM
and using wmp version 9
that a mac cannot do that...
and will never be able to do that...


Not necessarily. It depends on what Microsoft has contracted Telestream to do.


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:14 pm Subject: Getting rid of WMP on a Mac

Does anyone know how to uninstall WMP 9? When I move the folder to the Trash and try to empty I get an endless stream of "Cannot delete XXXXX is locked" prompts. I want this thing out of my baby!!

Frustrated
thefitfox@hotmail.com


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Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:17 pm Subject:

If they are already in the trash, hold down the option key when you empty the trash. That bypasses the lock.


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Close Name:Guest
Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:12 pm Subject:

Quote
Intruder wrote:
If they are already in the trash, hold down the option key when you empty the trash. That bypasses the lock.


Wow. A tip from chapter one of (insert Mac book title here).


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Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:30 pm Subject:

Quote
My Pet Troll wrote:
Wow. A tip from chapter one of (insert Mac book title here).


You know how to read? Now that is a shocker!


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Close Name:Guest
Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:34 pm Subject:

Quote
Intruder wrote:

You know how to read? Now that is a shocker!


Yes, I can read AppleCare warranty disclaimers (the fine print), MacFixit forums and a bunch of other serious Apple stuff that Mac fans don't care to read.


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Close Name:tango pulse Posts: 1 Joined: 22 Sep 2006
Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:09 am Subject: removing WMP

well, i held down the option key and it didn't work. the files are still locked. any other suggestions?
thanks
jackie


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Close Name:burreyeann Posts: 1144 Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:38 am Subject:

Are you sure they are locked? I can't find one locked file on my computer. I copied a file and locked it, wasn't even able to put in the trash. That method does work! Your file must be in use or something else?


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Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:41 am Subject:
Close Name:burreyeann Posts: 1144 Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:53 am Subject:

Here's part of their Product Description:

Quote
I wrote Trash Lock Files because I was fed up in Mac OS X with not being able to delete many locked files in my trash can without having to unlock them all first. Unlike Mac OS 9 where you could hold the option key down while emptying the trash, this does not work on Mac OS X (as of 10.3.3).


Holding down the option key works on my Mac (10.4.7).


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Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:20 am Subject:

i don't disagree that the functionality is there in 10.4.7. However, if the poster is having issues, here is another method to try. If that doesn't work then there is something else going on within the OS (possibly a permissions issue).


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Close Name:Guest
Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:13 pm Subject: Emptying Trash w/WMP 9 in it

Holding option worked for me when I emptied the trash from the dock, where it didn't when the Trash window was open. Maybe this is no longer important to anyone, but thanks for the tip either way.


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