We've been talking about the browser ballot screen for a while now, which led to some obvious questions we couldn't answer. As it turns out (and I completely missed this), Microsoft actually posted a fairly detailed description of its proposal [.doc] on its website last Friday. It details everything from what it means not to have Internet Explorer installed to what the ballot screen will look like.
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Member since:2005-07-13
Actually Thom, when it was just IE and Netcape having IE in there did basically kill off Netscape. Also when MS used to bundle Office on computers at most retail stores that pretty much killed word perfect. They started doing things things right when their competitors could have grabbed a real foot hold in the market.
Of course now it's totally different, and both the 2 products I mentioned had companies that worked with the OEM's for inclusion with windows as the defaults (Music match Jukebox also comes ot mind).
But, in this current market, a media player and a web brsowers are common place. To not have them is a disservice to the customer, and I do not sympathise with any company that isn't willing to play the game to get their product included on a system they themselves didn't create. This is not the late 90's, stop treating MS like it is. They did anti competitive things then, now they are doing the same as every other OS provider out there. The issue should have been dismissed in court with prejudice...
Edited 2009-07-28 20:15 UTC
Member since:2006-02-05
The thing that most people seem to forget when they bring up the netscape thing, is by the end, netscape *really* sucked. It was a thorn in the side of web developers the same way IE6 is now, where special time always had to be alotted to working through its "quirks".
I always wonder if Netscape had won the browser wars, if we would all be using their proprietary LAYER extensions rather then the CSS standards that ms adopted in IE.
Member since:2006-12-05
How about Windows Media Player?
WMA... WMV... other proprietary formats which are all over the Internet, and can only "legally" be played back on an OS Microsoft says you can (Windows, Windows, Windows, maybe Novell's Linux, and Mac...). And because Windows has a monopoly...a disgusting number of sites uses them.
The Apple side is really no better though, with QuickTime...
They might not be monopoly-level, but I think they've caused some damage when it comes to cross-platform media playback.
Edited 2009-07-28 20:24 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-07-04
First, WMV isn't "proprietary", as VC-1 was standardized a few years ago as an STMPE standard. WMV today refers to Microsoft's implementation of that standard. WMV files can be played on any platform.
WMA, I don't think has been standardized, but it too can be played on any platform.
Neither format has a monopoly. WMA isn't used at all except for Zune (and PlayForSure) DRM'ed music (and some DVD players can play WMA CDs). WMV, I think, still rules the commercial downloaded videos space, but MPEG4 is catching up, DivX dominates the non-commercial downloaded video space (and is the preferred format for pirated DVD video), and Flash long ago took over the embedded video space.
Member since:2005-08-28
Well, Microsoft Word; they basically have a lock on everything business related.
I was actually considering the implications of installing a system where you selected components via this ballot system, as opposed to the normal approach. Anaconda, as I mentioned, does have something like it, but if memory serves you can drill down a lot farther into it than just major applications. (Bluetooth libraries, etc.)
Member since:2005-07-13
Member since:2005-10-02
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently."In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies."The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Member since:
2005-06-29
Installers like Anaconda already ask, but their system for selecting stuff has a lot of, well, helper programs rather than full-featured applications on it too. And there are lots of choices.
Can you think of anything shipped with Windows that actually has a monopoly position that harmed the market?