Microsoft trying to make Vista iPod-friendly

Microsoft released several patches for Windows Vista on Tuesday, including one designed to put the iPod and the new operating system back on speaking terms.

The software maker issued a patch that is designed to fix a problem that had left iPods vulnerable to being corrupted if Vista users select the operating system's Safely Remove Hardware option to eject the music player.

Apple had resolved several Vista compatibility issues in iTunes, but has continued to warn users to only use the eject function within iTunes to remove an iPod in Vista.

Microsoft and Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Microsoft posted several other updates, including one aimed at fixing a problem that could have resulted in Canon EOS-1D users losing images if metadata was added to RAW files. Another update attempts to solve a video quality problem that some people were seeing when using video in interlaced mode, the type of video used by standard television.

The updates were noted earlier Tuesday by Windows enthusiast site Activewin.com.

[Peter Bonte]

MS screwing up Apple or vice versa?

Not that i care but why is it taking so long?

[pgp_protector]

Why so long

Each company is probably saying it's the others fault.

[notagumshoe]

MS is screwing up Apple

Since the device is corrupted when ejected using Vista's controls <br />and not when using iTunes, Microsoft is the one screwing up. Of <br />course Apple has been quicker to resolver their end of the <br />problem but that doesn't mean it was there fault. To be fare <br />there were firewire problems with Tiger when it was first <br />released that had to be resolved by Apple and not the audio <br />interface componant I use?to be fair it may have been with the <br />Intel transition that this occured, I can't recall. <br /><br />Ironicly using the "Safely Remove Your Device" is more damaging <br />than unpluging it physicaly.

[dansterpower]

MS is Screwing Apple for Sure

See the post below on the documented history of this Quicktime <br />and now iPod war that Microsoft is loosing, and acutally to Apple's <br />benefit, promoting.

[skeptik]

there fare loosing

I'm just wondering why all the Mac fanboys posting in response to this have such bad grammerz.<br />Could it be that Macs make you stupid?

[iZune]

Always Apple's Fault

Apple makes the worst software in the world, so it isn't surprising that they couldn't write a fix for their own program. Why should Microsoft spend time and money fixing Apple's coding mistakes?!

[dominicnz]

Sigh...

...probably shouldn't react to this baiting - but since Vista has <br />broken connectivity in thousands of devices, including the Canon <br />camera also mentioned in this piece, dontcha think Microsoft might <br />have something to do with the problem?

[Merovingian007]

Au Contraire!

Apple actually makes the most stable software available. You might notice that it rarely crashes and, when it does, it does not take down operating systems with it. Because Apple has had experience making both hardware and software to go hand in hand, it is not surprising they have had some problems with an operating system with so many security flaws and instabilities, even after years of delay, which can only "keep up" with Apple's stable yet cutting-edge innovations. Microsoft should fix THEIR mistake on this issue and Apple should continue making the best software available on the market.

[Jesus#2]

You can't event Delete in Vista..

They (Microsoft) couldn't get this right either...<br /><br />embarrassing.... <br /><br />"Windows Vista suffers from a bug that causes many machines <br />to stall while deleting, copying and moving files, a flaw that has <br />provoked consternation in online forums," Dan Goodin reports <br />for The Register.<br /><br />Dan Goodin, "According to a thread on Microsoft's TechNet site, <br />Microsoft has issued a hotfix for the problem, but it has failed to <br />quell the outrage. For one thing, individual users must get <br />Microsoft's approval before the fix can be downloaded, <br />according to our tipster. And for another, hotfixes are more of a <br />pain to install than patches."<br /><br />"'I simply can not believe that I updated to a new computer and <br />put windows Vista on it to find that it's not even capable of <br />moving and deleting files in an efficient manner,' one disaffected <br />user posted in the Microsoft forum. 'Microsoft must be kidding! <br />The most basic of features that I use all the time is a slow train <br />wreck,'" Goodin reports.

[MacDuff]

Typical Zune user? Hope not!

iZune? Is that you, Steve Ballmer?? Your clueless post seems to <br />suggest so.<br /><br />If you had learned to read properly, you could have understood <br />this section from the article:<br /><br />"Apple had resolved several Vista compatibility issues in iTunes, <br />but has continued to warn users to only use the eject function <br />within iTunes to remove an iPod in Vista."<br /><br />Sooo... if one has the mental capacity to "read between the <br />lines", you could see that Apple did all they could to get <br />iTunes/iPod working on someone else's new operating system, <br />and that certain system-level issues were beyond their domain <br />or control.<br /><br />Got it, you moron?<br /><br />I tell ya, such comments make me think Ballmer posts with <br />different aliases, because this post from "iZune" is not smarter <br />than Ballmer's response to the iPhone.<br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo" target="_newWindow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo</a><br /><br />"No keyboard"?? Get a ******* CLUE, you dipstick.

[dansterpower]

How's the Zune working out?

Hey it's good old, "head in the sand" iZune.<br /><br />I appreciate your FUD.<br /><br />Keep it up, it's always fun to watch someone make an ass of <br />themselves.

[K.P.C.]

Ahhhh . . . The return of iZune

How's that Zune patch coming Zunie?<br />Is your Mu-mu-mu-sic-ic-ic still ski-ski-ski-ping-ping-ping?<br /><br />I know, in your mind, that's just an extra added feature only <br />available from MS. <br /><br />I can see you now . . . Desperately searching for someone to <br />"Sqirt" your "Redmond Mega-Zunie Scratch Mix Beat" to.<br /><br />Good Luck! (^o^)/

[Llib Setag]

MS trying to "squirt" ou the iPod

Yeah, right, we're working on it...(wink, wink) : Microsloth.<br /><br />MS has been an Apple developer before Windows even existed. <br />The first versions of Word &#38; Excel were on the new Macintosh <br />Computer when they were still praying for DOS ( Seattle-DOS) to <br />grow.<br /><br />The Macintosh Business Unit at Redmond One is the largest <br />Apple Developer, so they should have been able to figure this <br />out with the iPod with ALL their money &#38; braintrust at Jurassic <br />Park in Redmond.<br /><br />But NOOOOOOOO!<br /><br />MS will doing anything to kill the iPod &#38; breath some life into <br />their beleagured Zune &#38; ZunieTunes...

[dansterpower]

Yep. Very True.

Very well said.

[nine9nin]

Read on and be enlightened Microsoft's Plot to Kill QuickTime (Apple)

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/" target="_newWindow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/</a><br />RDM.Tech.Q1.07/5F0C866C-6DDF-4A9A-9515-531B0CA0C29C.h<br />tml

[DraconumPB]

Good.

I hope they do. I hate quicktime with a passion.

[nine9nin]

Read on and be enlightened Microsoft's Plot to Kill QuickTime (Apple)

Read on and be enlightened Microsoft's Plot to Kill QuickTime <br />(Apple)<br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/" target="_newWindow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/</a><br />RDM.Tech.Q1.07/5F0C866C-6DDF-4A9A-9515-531B0CA0C29<br />C.html<br /><br /><br /><br />9

[dansterpower]

Very Accurate

Very nice set of articles -- By the way, the link is broken, but I <br />found it -- I will put revised link in the morning.<br /><br />Having lived that history, I recall vividly Microsoft's failed <br />attempts to harm Quicktime via WMV and Avid Video. They <br />underestimated the now Video Industry Dominant Final Cut Pro <br />and how the Quicktime Authoring Environment would evolve.<br /><br />Thanks for posting this.<br /><br />It is interested to watch Microsoft attempt to harm IPod in a <br />similar fashion with Vista -- of course, by focusing on doing <br />harm by crippling Vista they only weaken vista and promote <br />defection to Mac and Linux, which the market is now bearing <br />out.

[dansterpower]

Microsoft Underestimates the Power of iPod

What Microsoft fails to understand is that the general market does <br />not care about the "technology," rather they care about the benefit.<br /><br />By intentionally harming iPod and stalling on Vista Compatibility, <br />they only damage Vista sales and reputation promoting the <br />defections to Linux and Mac OS, which the Market is now proving <br />true.

[skeptik]

so obvious you missed it

"they only damage Vista sales and reputation"<br /><br />I suppose the fact that you basically disproved your own conspiracty theory makes it pretty easy for me to dismiss you as another nut-job.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Why is Microsoft fixing Apple's Issue?

Apple produces iTunes and the iPod. Microsoft produces Vista. Why is Microsoft having to fix the issue with Apple's product? Why hasn't Apple fixed their own product? <br /><br />I just don't get it. This is very damaging to Apple's public relations when a competitor has to fixt their product for them instead of doing it themselves.<br /><br />Apple: Bad move to let Microsoft fix your problem.<br /><br />Microsoft: Bad move to let Apple blame you for their problem.<br /><br />The Rest of Us: Suffering on the sidelines while these two companies play blame games and forget the end users of BOTH products.

[dansterpower]

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Dan, <br /><br />This is MICROSOFT's issue and does not only happen with the <br />iPod. If you research the issue, you'll see I am not a Mac Nut <br />Job.<br /><br />I own a production studio and yes I do own and use many <br />Macintoshes as I prefer their system for Video, Audio, Print and <br />Web Production, but I also have serveral PC running Win2K, XP <br />and now Vista -- I have a lot of respect for Vista. I think Mac OS <br />X is a superior system.<br /><br />Back to the issue:<br /> From this article: "had left iPods vulnerable to being corrupted if <br />Vista users select the operating system's Safely Remove <br />Hardware option to eject the music player." <br /><br />iPod is NOT the only device having an Issue with VISTA's Device <br />Drivers: "Microsoft posted several other updates, including one <br />aimed at fixing a problem that could have resulted in Canon <br />EOS-1D users losing images if metadata was added to RAW <br />files."<br /><br />Again, this IS a VIsta Issue.

[benjiernmd]

You are terribly wrong!!! It is an MS issue.

It is an MS issue and not Apple's. Think! The iPod has been out for <br />so long! If you are going to make an OS, make sure it is <br />compatible with the hardwares and softwares out there. Making an <br />OS and screwing up along the way and then blaming others is <br />horrible and unforgivable!

[kpearson123]

iPod and Outlook

So, Microsoft acts promptly and responsibly to ensure compatibility between Vista and iPod. Now how can we get Apple to be just as responsive about the long ongoing issue of iPod / Outlook compatibility?! Get a clue Apple.

[benjiernmd]

Path to the lesser resistance

If a person got pissed off with the incompatibility between iPod and <br />Vista, which way should he go? Change his iPod with a better <br />music player (if there is any in the market)? Or change his OS with <br />a better one (of which there are many in the market)? The one who <br />will lose a lot in this predicament will be the first one to quiver. <br />And the reality is out there now, blowing in the wind.

[wbenton]

Only one thing comes to mind.

Why is Microsoft doing this?<br /><br />But the only answer that keeps popping up is that they purposefully did it.<br /><br />Even if it were only iPod... then I would still suspect Microsoft, but as the problem is not ONLY with iPod, but also Canon and who knows how many others... the problem is actually in the OS and thus Apple shouldn't have to fix anything.<br /><br />But Microsoft wants everybody to think that it's another party's problem and thus stories like this one occur.<br /><br />iPod and Canon had their products out long before Vista was released. Microsoft knew better but still decided to let it out the door as is.<br /><br />Walt

[transtrem]

Apple really dropped the ball here

Vista (pre-installed on my new laptop) has worked just fine with everything I've thrown at it except my 80gb iPod and iTunes 7 (which also won't launch on my old XP laptop). Blaming Vista on Apple's incompetency is no different than a house painter blaming the foundation for his crappy paint job.<br /><br />iTunes 6 and my 60gb iPods worked with no problem. The 80gb model's lack of backward compatibility (will only work with iTunes 7) was a bad move on Apple's part.<br /><br />The only reason I bought an iPod in the first place was capacity. My 4 year old iRiver iHP140 does everything better than the iPod except in the capacity department (better sound, better compatibility, optical digital i/o, user customizable EQ, recording, FM tuner and an in-line LCD remote to boot). Of course, you have to give kudos to Apple in the style over substance department, but as of 2007, Apple either won't or can't include these other useful features which I would take in a heartbeat any day over a fluffy click wheel. My new Sansa e200 works with Vista, no problem. I'm through with Apple at this point and will never buy another product from them again. I'm not alone--when I bought my Sandisk at Best Buy, the clerk commented that the iPod/iTunes Vista compatibility issue is quite common and they have been receiving a number of complaints from disgruntled customers who are fed up with Apple's incompetence. <br /><br />I'm really tired of Apple people prodding that the solution is to buy a Mac. Are you kidding? If they can't get an MP3 player to work properly with the OS that most of its owners will be using in the coming years, does any rational person expect me to shell out a $1k plus premium for an inferior computer with no useful software? I already wasted $350 last December on an MP3 player that to date sits unused because I can't get the software required to load the player to launch on 2 computers that work with virtually every other piece of software and/or hardware I've tried. <br /><br />The iPod saved Steve Jobs' company from obscurity and it's the Windows user base that made the iPod so successful. Honestly, Vista has only been in development for, what, 6 years, and had a huge beta test during the past year. I used to think that Apple's failure to include certain features on the iPOD was just its typical give the users what Apple says they need not what they want and can really use. Now, I'm not so sure that they really have the technological competence. Either way, it kind of explains why Apple ended up as a niche company and not the industry leader. Lesson to be learned from nature--niche species are the first to become endangered and extinct. <br /><br />Those of you Apple devotees out there really need to get a life. Tools and the tool makers exist to serve our needs not the other way around. When you become so devoted to a piece of metal and plastic with an almost religious fervor, you have, in fact, become the tool.<br /><br />Rant over for now.

[twyrick]

Wow... you've really got it all backwards!

I'm glad your new Vista experience has gone so smoothly, but it sure hasn't been like that for everyone. There are quite a few applications and games that still aren't Vista compatible, and plenty of hardware devices with no Vista driver support.<br /><br />This is definitely NOT an issue of "Microsoft can design software so much better than Apple"!<br /><br />Vista, by all accounts, is largely a RIP-OFF of concepts and ideas Apple came up with first in OS X!<br /><br />I've looked at the iRiver before, and heard all the stories that "it's FAR better than the iPod". I can't agree. iRiver has nowhere near the 3rd. party support. When I wanted to interface my iPod with my Pioneer car stereo, no problem. They sold an adapter to charge it and interface it. This never happened for iRiver. The iPod is the standard in MP3 players - and as Microsoft proved with Windows, you don't have to be "the best" to sell the most. You just need to establish yourself as the industry standard, and that has enormous value in itself.<br /><br />I've worked in I.T. for over 15 years now (mostly with Windows or DOS based PCs), and what do I own at home? Mostly Macs! It wasn't always that way, but I realized all the real advances and innovation were happening on Apple's side of the fence. Let's face it. Microsoft isn't what they used to be. Bill Gates is all but retired, and Steve Balmer is screaming a bunch of marketing junk and throwing chairs around. It's pretty sad that with 6 years of development and a HUGE staff of developers, all we got from MS was what's in Vista. (Lots of eye-candy but little substance. 2x the former RAM requirements just to run apps as well as XP did. Promise of a revolutionary new file system totally scrapped.)<br /><br />The "industry leader" can't even sell me an operating system product that's not severely vulnerable to spyware and virus attacks! I'll take Apple's "niche offerings" thanks.

[dansterpower]

Exactly!

Exactly ? I prefer Apple Tools Over Microsoft Tools -- for the <br />Video, Audio, Web, Flash, Multimedia and Print production I do. <br /><br />For me the Apple system is superior in terms of work produced <br />per day. <br /><br />It is not blind devotion, but devotion to serving my clients who <br />enable my career, pay my bills and feed my family.<br /><br />I know from 18 years experience what works better: I have <br />earned this opinion.<br /><br />The 12 Mac Boxes, 1 Linux box and 5 Windows Boxes that I have <br />here in our studio give me the ground for comparison. I like <br />them all for the work I do. I love the Mac for how fast and <br />efficiently I can get my work done, stay ahead of competition <br />and spend more time outdoors and with my family.<br /><br />It is all about best tool for the job.

[transtrem]

To each his own

I'm no Microsoft rooter and, of course, Vista is not perfect or, in your case, worth the upgrade (I agree there--I would only get it pre-loaded on a new properly equipped computer). It's just this MS vs. Apple debate is worthless and mostly fueled by Apple devotees who have IMHO a peculiar emotional attachment to a single company no matter what it does. Their solution to any Windows problem is "buy a Mac." It's smug and infantile and not a real solution to the problem in terms of financial or practical reality.<br /><br />What works for you is great and what works for me is fine and that's the point. Of course, the kind of people who "LOVE" their Macs could never be convinced that there is anything wrong with anything Apple does--they're happy as clams and good for them. And most of the people who buy iPods aren't very picky about sound quality (they like the sound of standard MP3's after all)or battery life or useful features and such. They mostly like the fact that it looks cool and how they now fit in with most of the other kids on the block. I'm an adult now, so I look for value, which, for me, means functionality plus quality plus compatibility (and no doubt, style has a place in there somewhere as well).<br /><br />I just want the thing to work. This device dominates the market and Apple and Apple devotees constantly tout Apple's superior technology and how inferior MS's product is. This is a chance for them to put up or shut up and they've failed. It is the result of either incompetence or intention, but either way it doesn't really speak well for Apple. Like I said before, I will not buy another Apple product ever again (I did enjoy using the previous generation iPOD despite its feature and quality shortfalls) and the fact that I am not alone does not bode well for Apple. I could have bought a Nano, but as a result of my bad 80g iPOD experience, I bought the Sansa instead. Basic economics, a lost sale is lost for good. <br /><br />The iPOD could be great in both style and substance if Apple would just be less patronizing towards the user in its design philosophy and more responsive to compatibility issues. Also, adding a few features that have become standard everywhere else just makes plain sense. As Apple streamlined the iPod's design to make it more stylish (and probably to thwart 3rd party accessory developers) they actually have succeeded in reducing its functionality. Oh well, it's not my problem anymore.

[shoffmueller]

Get a grip

There's no place in a tired Mac/Windows debate for well thought-out, rational arguements. Making a thoughtful arguement based on facts and actual thinking has no place here. What is the matter with you?<br /><br />:)