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Microsoft says media player conflict is RealNetworks' fault
| July
27, 1998 Web posted at: 2:40 PM EDT by Bob Trott |
From...
|
(IDG)
-- The media player conflict that impressed the U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee in its hearing on Microsoft's business practices was the result
of a RealNetworks bug, not a sabotage attempt by the software giant, Microsoft
has charged.
In a demonstration during Thursday's hearing, RealNetworks Chairman and CEO Rob Glaser, a former Microsoft executive, downloaded Microsoft's Windows Media Player and installed it on a system equipped with his company's RealPlayer. Attempts to use Real Player failed and an error message was displayed.
After Microsoft tested the scenario, the Redmond, Wash. software maker cried foul, saying it was a bug in RealNetworks' RealSystem G2 -- which has been in beta for a week -- that caused the problem Glaser demonstrated to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and other committee members.
"Rob Glaser went before the U.S. Senate and said, 'Windows is breaking my software, let me tell you how.' In fact, it does not," said Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn.
According to Microsoft, Windows Media Player makes itself the default media player on a PC, except for formats that RealPlayer uses, and it checks that setup in the machine's registry. RealSystem G2 does not register itself in two places when used with Netscape Navigator. That is why Windows did not recognize RealNetworks' software, Sohn said.
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One representative for RealNetworks said that although Glaser did demonstrate a beta at the Senate hearing, the problem exists with Versions 4.0 and 5.0 of RealPlayer. Microsoft disputed that claim.
RealNetworks posted Glaser's testimony and a white paper outlining its software's conflicts with Windows. Microsoft's test results and comments were also posted (see related links below).
Microsoft, which made a 10 percent investment in RealNetworks and licensed some of the Seattle company's technology last year, released Windows Media Player earlier this month.
The media player controversy is important to Microsoft rivals and critics who maintain the company builds software monopolies in part by intentionally "breaking" competing technologies that work with its Windows operating system.
Bob Trott is a senior editor for InfoWorld.