Microsoft and the Mac platform

Once again it seems that Microsoft in its all time game of not supporting anything that is not Microsoft. In one of my earlier post last year, I posted a screenshot of the error I got when trying to view videos on MSNBC (www.msnbc.com). The response I got from the server was that I did not used the right Operating System. As I discussed in that previous post, usually you would have websites returning errors like "You do not have the right browser" but then saying that I am not using the right OS? I think Microsoft has gone way pass the borders of decency. But then again, their name is Microsoft and their middle name is "Fuck Y'all Who won't buy our product!?!" and they've always been like that and I think they will not change their strategies any time soon.

I was not too bothered though at that time because if I cannot use MSNBC, I can always use other news websites and videocasts NO?

However today, the matter has gotten worse. From what I've been reading this morning Microsoft will not support and develop Windows Media Player for the Mac platform anymore. Come to think about it, they stopped developing Microsoft Internet Explorer for the Mac platform after the first version of OS X. But who would be bothered, it is not like we do not have other alternatives to browse the Web and by the way, these alternatives are much much better (Opera, Mozilla, Safari and recently Flock which is also Mozilla based). If these did not exist, I bet one of us would sit down with a group of programmers and write a browser for the platform, so yeah, this is OK.

However for the Windows Media Player software, there are a few problems: the number and biggest problem is that MS Media Player uses proprietary format and it will be a real challenge for hackers of the Open Source community to find a way into it. If Microsoft stops developing their Media Player for the Mac platform, well we probably won't be playing the latest WMV, ASX, WPL, etc... anymore. Of course most people would argue that we could still use software such as VLC (www.vlc.org, but I have tried many times and with the latest version of VLC I could not get WMV version 3.0 files to play. What does this say? You'd say MPlayer? I'd say forget about it! It won't even play MPEGs properly! Of course with the many new upcoming format for digital entertainment files, we will probably be able to survive. However, this will create a greater gap between Windows (L)Users (read Loosers) and Mac Users, taking in account that the current gap is already big enough.

Then again, we can survive and will do our best to survive: more Open formats are now being made available and that is a great thing. However, there is one more thing: it is believed that Microsoft will not support / develop Mac Office anymore after the next 5 years. Ooh Wowwow. This is incredible! I always thought that Microsoft was avid of money and wouldn't stop at anything to get it and anything would also be "support for Mac users now and for many years to come". Ooh well, why am I complaining anyways, IMHO the less there are people buying Micros*t products, the better No?. Considering this, I think this is the golden moment and opportunity OpenOffice should take advantage of on the Mac platform. I've been using Open Office for some time (since I got my Powerbook) and it miraculuously works well for me. I however think that the guys developing OpenOffice, apart from offering it's outstanding functionality need topolish it a bit more, sort of making it appealing for users who care about aesthetic of the software they're using: that is the one thing I miss about using Mac Office but hey, if MSh*t can do it, independant programmers / developers can surely do it better once the will is there.


To sum it up:

in the new future, Macers (Mac users) should expect not to able to view Windows Media type of files anymore, nor to be able to access websites heavily designed and based on Microsoft products, and it is time to say good bye to Mac Office and say Hellllooooo to OpenOffice (downlodable for FREE at OpenOffice.org).