patents

[Eric Dunbar]

On 30/03/06, Chanchao <custom at freenet.de> wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-03-30 at 08:38 -0500, Andy Anderson wrote:
>
> > > mp3 really is the biggie, this is one that users EXPECT.
> >
> > While I agree that mp3 is a biggie - it's even supported on most
> > portable CD players as well as standalone, home DVD players these
> > days - I think users also are beginning to expect support for
> > the Windows formats (.wmv and .wma); probably more than 75% of
> > the video clips I get from friends via email are .wmv files.
>
> I have to say it's an excellent format.. Credit where credit is due,
> file size is super small relative to the quality/length of the video..
> And as long as you're sure the person you're sending it to uses windows,
> it's guaranteed to play.  (Codecs for Divx, Xvid etc, etc can be hell on
> WIndows too, and not everyone can play those.)
>
> What's Microsoft's policy on use/distribution of the format? They make
> it available free for Apple I saw.

They've stopped supporting Mac OS X. Instead, they have provided
"technical support" to a third party (www.Flip4Mac.com) who makes a
plug-in for QuickTime that allows QT to play WMV and WMA files (better
than WMP used to FYI). All of these "free" ($$) players come with
licences so the formats are surely protected from gratuitous copying
of the code.