RSSMicrosoft Quietly Ditches WMP for Mac
By Ed Oswald | Published January 11, 2006, 4:40 PM
Despite pledging its support for Apple's platform, Microsoft has backed out of future releases of Windows Media Player for Mac, and the company's Web site now directs visitors to download a third-party application from developer Flip4Mac.
Flip4Mac develops Windows Media Components for QuickTime, an add-in for Apple's multimedia player. According to press release on its Web site, it appears as if the Windows Media division at Microsoft has given the company its full blessing to become the standard-bearer for Mac-based Windows Media playback.
"The Windows Media Components for QuickTime, powered by Telestream's Flip4MacTM technology provide this important capability and live up to Telestream’s reputation for outstanding media solutions," Windows Media Division director Kevin Unangst said.
Sources tell BetaNews that Microsoft has taken a different approach toward dealing with the Mac platform in recent months. Key developers in the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft have been reassigned elsewhere, such as the MSN unit, and the company has plans to slowly exit the consumer side of the business.
This may seem to fly in the face of Microsoft's recent announcement of support for the Macintosh platform for the next five years through Office, but the company's work is now focused solely on business applications.
"If there is a MacBU scaleback, it adds new perspective to yesterday's Microsoft Mac commitment. Soon, Office and Messenger may be the only Mac products offered by Microsoft, because of their appeal to bigger businesses," commented Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox. "A consumer exit could mean the end of the low-cost Student & Teacher Edition, too, particularly with Apple offering iWork."
It is unclear if Telestream will attempt to bring Windows Media technologies on the Mac up to date and include support for WMP 10 codecs, or the "Janus" digital rights management framework.
Reports also surfaced Wednesday that Flip4Mac's application was unstable with the latest version of QuickTime, version 7.0.4. Crashes of QuickTime and Safari were reported on numerous Web sites. The company told users that it is working on a fix for the issue and hopes to have it released by Thursday.
Microsoft had not responded to a request for comment by press time.
This is a message to all Mac's users aka (Slaves of the Devil). It isn't my fault Microsoft just owned your ASSES.
Score: 0
Apple, kiss my microsoft based ass, the source of all evil.
Score: 0
Figures... first they cut out on IE development (solely good for viewing HTML pages after you make them to check for compatability) and now this?
No wonder WMP always crashes on my computer whenever I try to open a file; it hasn't been updated or ANYTHING.
Damned Micro$haft.
Score: 0
I sense the dark side within you. Break your evil addiction and come into the light (Microsoft).
Damn Mac addict!
Score: 0
"It is unclear if Telestream will attempt to bring Windows Media technologies on the Mac up to date and include support for WMP 10 codecs"
There's no such thing as a WMP 10 codec, so unless Microsoft invents one, my bet is that TeleStream won't be making one either. :)
WMP10 was only a client application update, no new compression technology.
Score: 0
While I agree with others that BetaNews is inventing a scandal with its headline, Microsoft was incredibly stupid to choose this timing. Surely the massive Microsoft PR machine realized that this move would seem ironic coming immediately after the Office announcement. They could have waited at least another month. Better yet, they could have done it sooner, retiring WMP for Mac at the same time as the recent "formal" (but anticipated) termination of IE for Mac and before the Office announcement, thus going into 2006 with a wholly positive spin.
Score: 0
OK guys... Ed, Nate, whomever... Repeat after me... there is no such thing as "Microsoft quietly..." The reason is simple... if Microsoft does it, it's headline news on every tech site that exists.
Just because they don't throw a party or issue a press release about it doesn't make it quiet.
Thanks for the heads up though, I'm always happy to tell my Mac users that Microsoft has further forsaken the MacOS, and they are now one product freer of their evil grasp.
Score: 0
Microsoft is bad. Now go away.
Score: 0
http://www.google.com/se....mozilla:en-US:official
betanews loves that term... "Microsoft quietly" :)
Score: 0
You forgot the quotation marks.
http://www.google.ca/sea...mp;btnG=Search&meta=
See, not 1000 matches, only 252. :P
Edit: Aww, Google only had 38.
Score: 0
lol, i wonder if other news sites are using "Microsoft Quietly" as mutch as BN
Score: 0
Why would a successful company like microsoft continue to develop a software that is for such a small market? the man hours involved and cost make no sense, now that windows is gonna run on a mac you all will switch to windows anyway
Bill G rules!
Score: 0
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
No.
Score: 0
Ha ha! :D
http://www.google.com/se....mozilla:en-US:official
578 results :D
http://www.google.com/se...mp;btnG=Search&meta
261 results
Score: 0