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Microsoft were no doubt kicking themselves back in Silicon
Valley all those years ago when Apple invented the iPod. Years
down the line and the only way to put songs on the incredibly
popular iPod was to use iTunes. This meant that all those
Windows Media Player fans were migrating over to iTunes! Not
only that but Apple made it even easier recently with their wma
→ mp3 converter in iTunes 4.6.
Only recently did some bright spark at Microsoft say: "Hey! Hold
on! Although we are already ripping all our customers off if we
are not careful we will soon have none left to RIP OFF!!!" And
so Windows Media Player 10 was born with its support for the
iPod amongs tons of other devices in an attempt to remove
Apple's dominance. It was a fair move but too little too late.
Apple took full advantage of their new-found iTunes popularity
after the iPod was launched and put extra effort into iTunes.
Microsoft have done very badly with their surprise and rushed
Windows Media 10. They have done badly in that the player cannot
read as many codecs as iTunes and their surprise was the lack of
notice they gave of its release. It shows that down at Microsoft
they are worried, and so they should be, as one can only imagine
the possibility of a huge failure if Microsoft were to release
an "msPlayer", or something similar...
Well done iTunes! Your fantastic wma converter enabled me to
escape the clutches of Windows Media Player, whereas those
idiots at Microsoft never thought twice about a m4a converter
(an iTunes format). The reason for this exclamation is that
iTunes have been thinking with their heads whereas Microsoft
with their backsides.
Microsoft are just digging themselves a deeper grave! They
should stick to what they are good at. There is little debate
that Windows is superior to Mac OSX but unfortunately for
Microsoft there is little debate to whether or not iTunes is now
superior to Windows Media Player. Having tried betas of Windows
Longhorn (the codename of the next Windows operating system) it
looks very promising but Windows Media Player 10 just
complicates things.
Microsoft need to take a step backwards and give up on the music
front. Although you can understand they want to support the iPod
they should realise that Windows Media Player is dying. However,
it's good news for all us iTunes users, as Apple are going to
have to keep improving their iTunes to stay 1 step ahead!
About the author:
Benjamin Wigoder is a part-time webmaster who has proven that
anybody can be successful on the web.
Visit www.benwiggy.com for free flash games
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