Microsoft has spent their time and money creating something “useless,” Justin Powell writes for The NET Results Blog. It’s a new digital photo format called “Windows Media Photo.”
“In case the folks in Redmond weren’t aware, we already have JPEG for Internet and consumer applications, plus RAW and TIFF for professional applications. Adobe Systems even threw their hat in the ring to create the Digital Negative (DNG) format for digital cameras and professional imaging workflows and lest we forget the essentially defunct PhotoCD format from Kodak. There’s also other raster image formats with varying degrees of usefulness: GIF, BMP, PICT, etc.,” Powell writes.
“I’m not exactly sure why Microsoft believes we needed another digital image format. I haven’t personally heard anyone complaining about the available formats or begging for Microsoft to step in and save them. Could it be that Microsoft didn’t control these other formats and likewise couldn’t make them exclusive to Windows users? Microsoft’s new Windows Media Photo will work in Vista and XP, but there’s no mention of making the format available to older versions of Windows or other operating systems,” Powell writes. “Microsoft calls the overall functionality ‘digital memories,’ but they didn’t mention that you’ll forget everything if you switch to a non-Microsoft product. No thanks, I’ll stick with JPEG and RAW.”
Full article here.
“Microsoft will need to get players such as Adobe Systems and Apple Computer on board to win over the graphics professionals, he noted. A major unknown is licensing, which Microsoft has not yet addressed,” Joris Evers reports for CNET News. “Windows Media Photo was developed by the same people who worked on Windows Media Video and Audio… Microsoft has finished the first official version of the “porting kit” software needed to build support for Windows Media Photo into devices and platforms other than Windows. It should be available soon.”
Full article here.
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emax –
I might add that this enslaves users to their dull boxes because people’s personal media (pics) are near and dear to them. Once they find out that their pics won’t work on a mac they will not switch. (I know about bootcamp and parallels etc. . )
Microsoft: when you want to commit suicide but cant find a reason.
dogfriend-
You forgot to add “pipeline”. As in “this is an example of a product in our pipeline that is built on innovation and contributes to the richness of the user experience because it is so rich”.
Gates
Ballmer
et al
MW: Record. For the record.
WiMP will join ATRAC.
MW: <b>tried> and failed
Oh yeah…
Like Adobe, Corel and everybody else is going to dump free JPEG just for the opportunity to pay MS a royalty.
Balmer and Gates are really blind to the problems MS is having. It’s like a whole “Emperor’s new clothes” thing is happening there.
Okay let me try…..Uh, Mr. Balmer and Mr. Gates. I am just a lowly computer user. Your company’s operating system is way out of date when compared to your competition’s. You don’t even run in native 64-bit mode. You current offering is plagued viruses and malware which is written using the technical prowess needed to run a PlaySchool lawn mower. I mean, the weeble wobble crowd can crash your OS! Wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to improve the OS first then chase all the pie in the sky media projects. As a Mac user the only software I own that crashes and is incompatible with itself has a Microsoft logo on the splash screen. I know quality is one of those side projects that brilliant guys like yourself can’t bother with but, maybe you will keep more customers if you work harder on quality.
This is sure to cause them to rename Vista.
Ampar,
Stop! I had to shut the door to my office I was laughing so hard.
I’m not exactly sure why Microsoft believes we needed another digital image format.
Well, if you read the MS release on this you’d know. WMPhoto significantly reduces the file size while increasing the amount of photo detail retained as compared to JPEG while also allowing for simple transformations (such as rotation) without the need for re-encoding of the file.
I know MS bashing around here is like a reflex, and I admit I wouldn’t touch this format if it came with twenty dollar bill attached to it, but it’s not like they don’t have a few reasonable points as to “why Microsoft believes we needed another digital image format.”
Another dumb program that nobody can use the data unless it is a Microsoft application. Why would anyone want this?
What’s next, Microsoft to patent ones and zeros!? Oh wait a minute – didn’t they already try that?
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http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29130
“Microsoft calls the overall functionality ‘digital memories…”
Digital memories are exactly all that’ll be left when thousands of loved images suddenly, and inexplicably, disappear from the hard drive. Sheesh.
Hey AMPAR!
I missed the thing on the History channel last
night(I assume you were talking about Modern
Marvels: 80’s Tech). How was it?
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“Microsoft has spent their time and money creating something “useless,”
I can’t believe no one has touched that line. It’s too easy!
Their claim is that the new format produces better quality photos with smaller file sizes. A really good replacement for jpeg IS overdue. The question is, do you want someone like Microsoft or Apple controlling the next standard?
BTW – I didn’t read anything about the new format supporting 16-bits-per-channel or layers. Something lacking in jpeg.
All I have to say is GOOD LUCK SCUMBAGS!
Pretty cool, Thorin. They had an interview with Woz, lots of info. about Apple, Jobs and Nolan Bushnell. Beta vs. VHS, brick cell phones, etc. Good stuff!
We don’t need another format…we need Microsoft to support the formats that are out there. IE6 does not currently know how to render a PNG image with transparency. This is very annoying. Images with some transarency would be great for making a webpage. If you’re on IE6, check out this page and you will see the difference. If you’re on ANY other browser, it should show up fine.
http://homepage.mac.com/reedkb/shadow/
I know exactly why MS wants a new image format – Because people with power always want more power. The sad thing is that, it could very well get a foothold simply because of the installed user base.
If you think its far fetched take a good look at .wav. There’s a digital media format that just kind of silenty took over the world because it became an integral part of the OS. Now even professionals take about .wav as if it were an “industry standard”, especially with regard to audio formats. Its taken the better part of two years at the company I work for to dispel the mythg that .wav is an industry standard for audio. In reality its only a very prolific artifact of Windows OS, and has never been sanctioned or recognized by the Audio Engineering Society, Society of Motion Picture Technologists and Engineers, or any other group that officially sets “industry standards”.
So be on the lookout for .wmp in an image file coming soon. You know what MS is up to – just like the stunt they pulled with Office and Media Player, they’ll start out with most everybody on board, then dump everyone that doesn’t use Windows.
Finally, please everybody – STOP BUYING WINDOWS, STOP INSTALLING IT ON YOUR MACS – NOW!
Peace
Why dosn’t M$ just run away and hide?
I thought jpg had issued a newer jp2 format, and that jp2’s lossless was being used for iPhoto when you make edits. I know I read that somewhere. Perhaps Derek Story’s blog on O’Reilly.
Anyhow, jp2 does what WMP does. It compresses images more efficiently into a smaller file, with less image degradation. It even has a lossless setting, like TIFF.
uh…why don’t they just focus on um…vista.
MacDaddy:
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While I am cynical about both the new file type and MS’s motives for foisting it upon a justifiably suspicious world, you have to admit it isn’t ALL bad. Supposedly it can compress files to half the size of a typical JPEG while retaining better image quality when uncompressed. At 4X the standard JPEG compression the image obviously suffers, so maybe folks should be satisfied with that 2X boost. That’s a LOT of pictures on a typical card.
There … I’ve said something nice about Microsoft and don’t even feel particularly … unclean.
Now back to your regularly scheduled rant.
Say NO to WMP (Windows Media Photo)!
It’s probably nothing more than a tool to lock consumers and businesses into a proprietary technology via the Web!
PNG is the way to go people
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Check out more on WMPhoto at Wikipedia… someone needs to add a criticism section.
they will force it on people, like they do with their microsoft document format as an “alternative” to PDF. For example, after some system updates, my computer is defaulting to “microsoft document image” format. go figure. remember MS also screwed up HTML back in the day. They don’t like standards unless they create them.
For my fellow Brits:
Oy! Microsoft! NO!