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Phil Scott's WebLog

Quite exciting this computer magic

Real

Frank has a great set of links regarding the Real suit against Microsoft.  Real Media needs to stop installing spyware and BUFFERING BUFFERING BUFFERING BUFFERING write some software that doesn't suck.  Pretty much the only format I like to see videos encoded in is QuickTime or DivX.  I still haven't really bothered to figure out what the difference between ASF and WMV files are.  All I know is that I can download them...sometimes.  Has anyone in the history of the internet had an enjoyable experience using streaming video ala Real or Microsoft's streaming video?  The only time it is appropriate is for live events.  Otherwise, give me an opportunity to download it while I'm cooking dinner, and let me watch it without buffering.

Published Dec 19 2003, 08:39 AM by Phil Scott

Comments

 

Darrell said:

RealPlayer sucks ass. I hate spyware. Spybot rules!
December 19, 2003 9:34 AM
 

OmegaSupreme said:

Real sucks and it always has. I think the last time I installed it would start up with windows and 'suggest' new things that I should download, jeez. Spamware.

If Microsoft behaved half as badly as they do, they'd deserve half the abuse they got.
December 19, 2003 9:47 AM
 

Mark said:

My comments here:

http://dotnetjunkies.com/weblog/markdigiovanni/posts/4676.aspx
December 19, 2003 10:00 AM
 

Kevin said:

Good to see others sharing the same sentiment I have. Basically, I stopped using Real Player about two or three versions ago when I installed it and it took over all my multimedia shortcuts without asking me. Talk about antitrust or monopolistic behavior. Plus, if I wanted their crap download manager, I would have downloaded it but thanks to their spamware I got it anyway.

Real really sucks.
December 19, 2003 10:09 AM
 

Jon Galloway said:

Real Alternative plays RM files without the spyware: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=1054136293

I also like QuickTime Alternative: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=1049831315 / http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/posts/8632.aspx

WMV and ASF are the exact same files, just with different extensions and mime types - i.e., you can rename test.wmv to test.asf and it'll work. It was just a rebranding, I think - from "Advanced Streaming Format" to "Windows Media Video", "Windows Media Audio", etc.

More here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q284/0/94.asp&NoWebContent=1

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=asf+wmv+rename+%22advanced+streaming%22+%22windows+media%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=D5UOiaoVBHA.186%40cppssbbsa01.microsoft.com&rnum=1
December 19, 2003 11:15 AM

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