Thanks to those that provided their thoughts on the Freestyle platform- both pro and con.
As for the comments regarding Windows Media- I feel compelled to respond:
- Origin and strategy of Windows Media - Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's, Microsoft developed the AVI and WAV formats for the PC and introduced this in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0. Based on overwhelming feedback that users wanted multimedia support on the PC, Microsoft continued to improve what it had started. The evolution of this is Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video. We have a good sized team working on this across research and development in the New Media Platforms Group. Microsoft goal is simple- make Windows the best place to experience digital media and offer the highest quality at the smallest size. Corona will up that to 24-bit, 96khz, 6+ discrete digital channels.
- Consumer Rights & DRM - Balancing between Consumer Fair Use Rights and those of the Artist or publisher isn't easy for any organization working in the AV industry. So we tend to try to stay out of the middle and recognize we have customers who are consumers who should be able to do what they want with their media according to the law, and customers who have the desire to distribute and protect their original works. With WM Player, copy protection is entirely optional. Even WMA is optional as of MPXP based on good feedback from users like some of you here. If you want MP3 encode, add it for about $15 and still get album art, valid media info etc. in ID3 tags. We'd offer it for free except for the licensing cost for MP3 (that's not free either). So if you don't like Digital Rights Management - read the dialog box the first time you go to rip a CD, uncheck the only box on the screen. If you download content that is protected- it's been done by our customer- the artist or label.
- WM vs. X,Y, or Z. It's all about choice. It's not required, it's an option and a natural evolution of the AVI and WAV formats Microsoft developed for the first multimedia PCs as I mentioned above. It's about consumer choice. Where possible, we've licensed other formats for playback in our player. Anyone can license Windows Media easily. In fact, Windows Media has been licensed for use in AOL/Nullsoft WinAmp, RealNetworks RealOne/Jukebox, Lycos Sonique, Yahoo Player, Musicmatch JB and many others- you aren't locked into one player. We heard you wanted more MP3 support- we added it. We even made changes in Windows XP to put the choice of application back in the hands of the end user via AutoPlay- when removeable media such as CD is inserted to ask which application you want to use for playback. Now other 3rd party players bordering on malware have deliberately taken this choice out of your hands and force their own players to take over your autoplay and file type settings but Windows Media Player is an optional component of Windows- if you don't like it use another and it will honor your wishes.
- Open MPEG vs. Closed Windows Media. MPEG-2 is not free. Next-generation MPEG-4 is not free. A large portion of the video compression IP in MPEG-4 was contributed by Microsoft. Apple provided the file container. Both have been modified since. Windows Media is continuing to improve and is at least 30% more efficient today than MPEG-4. If you don't believe, I encourage you to attend a Streaming Media conference or NAB where you can see industry-standard tests in process using recognized methods.
-Motives - I'm concerned with one thing: continuing to improve the quality of AV compression, the end user experience, and make Windows the best place to experience it. If you don't agree w/ it or don't like Microsoft or Windows Media- entirely your right and we can respectfully disagree. I'm an enthusiast just like most of you and really appreciate constructive feedback-good or bad. I like making the things I'm passionate about better.
-Visual Basic "hacks" vs. Professional Development - BIG supporter of both. Maybe that's because I used to work on VB?
I could go on for hours- but that's not a good use of anyones time. If anyone has specific questions regarding Windows Media, I'm happy to try to answer them via post or PM.
Respectfully,
Sean