The only problem is that MS defines the word "works" on a much narrower scale and a very minimal requirement to evoke that word than the average person who might use that word.

And we all know it takes MS up to 5 years and 3 tries to get anything right so when the clock strikes 2009, that when it might 'work' (work as defined by the average person).

See here - http://www.hotandfruity.com/xpod/the_xpod.shtml - for Microsoft's iPod killer, the XPod.

I know when it is finally released it will spell the doom for not only Apple but all the other MP3 players..

:-D

M$ often sounds like republicans... promising one thing and working hard to deliver something different.

Rick Hansen says "M$ often sounds like republicans... promising one thing and working hard to deliver something different.
Posted by: Rick Hansen at May 27, 2004 11:26 AM"

Now Rick, I always thought Democrats did the same thing. Guess it is just people who take your money -- with out having any real consequences on how the spend it -- who end up lying to you, trying to make you feel good about them steeling your money. They are all a bunch of commies over there in D.C.

Now Rick,
Learn how to use the English language. Your grammar and spelling make you sound like George Bush.

Will it work as seamlessly as the iPod works with iTunes? Maybe it's because I've been using a Mac for a long time, but I have never trusted Microsloth. What about mp3 trojan horses? I thought virus was Bill Gates real surname.

C.mon, Austin, Dru must have gone to the site and seen that it was a joke, especially when you can see the Apple keyboard and mouse in the pictures.

After all, look at that piece of crap that the jokesters are describing. No one is stupid enough to think that this is what M$ is coming out with? (Well, maybe Microsft may see this as innovation; larger is better.

No one can be that freakin' dumb, right, Dru? Dru?

Quote:
it’ll work with your Windows PCs, and that alone I think will give us a big enough market share that we certainly should be able to go out there and be in a nice horse race, if not take the lead at some point in the future. :Quote

Did he just say they're going to use their illeagal monopoly in one area (Thomas Penfield Jackson) to hurt the competition in another area? Hmm, anybody say new anti-trust case?

this guy has a comments on how microsoft might get to a $50 player

http://tingilinde.typepad.com/starstuff/2004/05/comments_on_a_m.html

jbelkin :"And we all know it takes MS up to 5 years and 3 tries to get anything right so when the clock strikes 2009, that when it might 'work' (work as defined by the average person).
"

Rubbish.
The XBOX kicked butt BIG TIME right from the get go. It was the best console at launch, it still is the best games console on the planet.
And just last month, the XBOX has overtaken the PS2 as the # 1 console in the USA, after just 2 years on the market.

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/519/519244p1.html

Dream on dude. You CRAPPLE fanatics are cearly running scared.
Lets face it, every single time Microsoft has gone head to head with CRAPPLE, Microsoft has proceeded to deliver a clobbering to CRAPPLE, no matter how "late to the market" Microsoft was.

Rick Hansen : "M$ often sounds like republicans... promising one thing and working hard to deliver something different."

Typical cheap shot from a Hanoi John Kerry,the gigolo, hatchet boy.
Spoken like a typical Jon Kerry Democrat, flip flopping at least 50 times a day on any issue, often within the same sentence, and having no position on anything apart from making sure he marries rich widows, then turn around and call their dead husbands (whose money he is living off) "Benedict Arnold CEOS"
You Democrasts are beyond contempt!!

Eric Ose : "Did he just say they're going to use their illeagal monopoly in one area (Thomas Penfield Jackson) to hurt the competition in another area? Hmm, anybody say new anti-trust case?"

Nope.
He said "it’ll work with your Windows PCs", just like CRAPPLE's ipod and every other MP# player out there.
As for the hapless Penfield Jackson, even his own Appleals court called his behaviour "beyond the pale" and REMOVED hism permantly from this case.
That dude is never going to get any promotion to a higer court for the rest of his miserable hate-filled, pathetic little life.
He is effectively of no threat to Microsoft whatsoever. LOL!

thetruth : "I thought virus was Bill Gates real surname"
Nope. Thats Steve Jobs you are talking about, loser.

Read this and weep.

" security hole still threatens Mac OS X users after a patch issued by Apple Computer last week failed to fix the underlying problem, security experts said on Tuesday.
The security issue could allow an attacker to transfer and then run a malicious program on a Mac, if the Mac's user can be enticed to go to a fake Web page on which the program has been placed.
"This, in my mind, is the first critical vulnerability on OS X," said Richard Forno, a security researcher and the former chief of security for domain registrar Network Solutions. "Downloading the patch and seeing that there were some things that were fixed and some things that weren't, tells me that there is more work to be done."
Two other software companies have confirmed the issue. Security information company Secunia raised its rating of the potential risk to "extremely critical" after determining that the vulnerability is more widespread than Apple apparently first thought. "

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5220285.html

You live in glass houses, don't throw stones dude!

smithy needs to get out more often...

yea..smithy been at his Wintel machine too long addressing those 50K + Viruses.

Correct. For the first time, now that Microsoft is practically giving them away, and decided to lose even MORE money on every one, more XBoxes were sold LAST MONTH (about 270,000 total) than any other console. Sony sold 200,000. Never mind that there are 70 MILLION PS2s out there to Xs 13.7 million. Think they'll catch up before the next PlayStation comes out?

What convoluted mind could possibly think that that makes the XBox a market leader? Amazing how you can use statistics to mislead. Analysts attribute the sales increase to the price drop, and expect it to taper off, much as Gamecube sales did.

So the war of words is in full swing. Well then, let me put my two cents in the ring. Firstly, let's compare the tools of this debate, MS Music website, and iTunes.

MS Music website is just that, a website. It really doesn't look too appealing to be quite honest. In fact it just looks bland. This is key to the consumer (like me), I want a company that is on the cutting edge, and not just following in everyone elses footsteps.

iTunes Music Store (iTMS). This program works very well and although dated in appearance, it has stood the test of time, and is very easy to navigate.

The first battle goes to iTunes

WMV vs. AAC & MP3 The clear winner here is Apple. AAC (which can only be played with the iPod as opposed to the other players on the market) and MP3 (which can be played on every player basically) are far superior compression codecs then WMV. There are so many tests out there that have proven this. To be quite honest though, I can't hear a difference between AAC and MP3, but I guess that's because I have bad hearing already (never said I was an audiophile!).

Marketing - No doubt Apple has pumped a lot of money into marketing of the iPod. And to be quite honest, I am sure MS will match that money and work with 10X the budget and do a very good job. But just because a company pumps money into a project or product doesn't make it better. I am sure Ford pumps more money into their advertising then Mercedes, but which is a better vehicle? Enough said, in my view I will stick with Apple, cross my fingers and hope that MS doesn't come into this market and blind consumers to think that they have a superior product.

Apple makes a vastly superior product that is the best in its class at what it does... Microsoft, like with anything it does, copies something that works flawlessly and then makes it worse.

The iPod + iTunes + iTunes music store is an AWESOME combination that Microsoft won't be able to beat. Why? Because enough people have been exposed to the superiority of Apple's integrated solution to see that Microsoft's solution will be full of holes and technical glitches given the number of 3rd party devices it plans on working with. I applaud their effort, but in the end it comes down to the user experience which is, and always will be, VASTLY superior on Apple's side of the fence.

Today is far different than back in the late 80s and early 90s, when Windows became the dominant OS -- Apple wasn't a marketshare leader back then, so it was easy for Microsoft to steal the Mac's thunder. Today, the iPod + iTunes is a huge market leader, and Microsoft would have to have a clearly superior product in order to compete, which it clearly hasn't.

I can't help but notice that M$ seems to be claiming that the iPod is the best device out there and maybe some of the new next gen hardware will be as good as the iPod. Quote: "I personally have spent time with a bunch of hardware manufacturers who will launch hardware products when we ship our service that will look and feel as good as the iPod product."

I'm willing to bet that by the time those devices are released Apple will have raised the bar again. The biggest advantage the iPod has had in the past is firewire. Few other devices have it, and those that do are worse than the iPod.

As far as MSN music being a website, that is no surprise. The iTunes music store is just a website too. Granted it has special hooks which only work with iTunes, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a website. Windows Media player already can display webpages, so I would expect it to be similar to iTunes anyway.

The saddest part of this whole thing is just the fact that M$ is trying to offer a system that works with all devices instead of concentrating on innovating and improving with a smaller range of products.

I can't help but notice that M$ seems to be claiming that the iPod is the best device out there and maybe some of the new next gen hardware will be as good as the iPod. Quote: "I personally have spent time with a bunch of hardware manufacturers who will launch hardware products when we ship our service that will look and feel as good as the iPod product."

I'm willing to bet that by the time those devices are released Apple will have raised the bar again. The biggest advantage the iPod has had in the past is firewire. Few other devices have it, and those that do are worse than the iPod.

As far as MSN music being a website, that is no surprise. The iTunes music store is just a website too. Granted it has special hooks which only work with iTunes, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a website. Windows Media player already can display webpages, so I would expect it to be similar to iTunes anyway.

The saddest part of this whole thing is just the fact that M$ is trying to offer a system that works with all devices instead of concentrating on innovating and improving with a smaller range of products.