Real, Microsoft reach truce

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system, including Windows Media Player, and access for Real to a broad range of Windows platform technologies.

"At the end of the day, we think consumers want choice."

--Rob Glaser,
CEO, RealNetworks

"We've agreed, on the Windows front, to make our platform as effective as possible for Real," Gates said on a conference call.

With Windows Vista, the new version of the operating system that is due to arrive next year, Microsoft will add in code so that if someone seeks to play a Real media file and does not have the proper software, he or she will be redirected to a Web site to download the player.

"It's more advantageous than it might have been before," Gates said.

The two companies said they will work to make their respective digital rights management technologies interoperable. "Microsoft will also enable Real to facilitate the playback of content on non-Windows portable devices and personal computers using Windows Media DRM," the companies said in the press release announcing the deal.

"We've agreed, on the Windows front, to make our platform as effective as possible for Real."

--Bill Gates,
chairman, Microsoft

Microsoft also said it has provided Real with contractual assurance that it will have broad access to distribution via new computers.

Finally, the two companies will collaborate in the game arena. Real will create a new subscription service to be offered on MSN Games and will also develop a series of new casual games for Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 console.

The two companies demonstrated some of the planned technology, including a version of MSN Messenger with a link to Rhapsody's music library. Glaser said that some of the joint products will come by the end of this year, while the remainder will be released by the middle of next year.

Glaser said that while Real and Microsoft will cooperate in a lot of areas, they will continue to compete in other areas--such as with the RealPlayer jukebox, which competes with Windows Media Player. However, even in areas where the two companies are rivals, Glaser said Real will be better off for the added technical access it is getting.

"We look forward to making the most of our new relationship," Glaser said.

For its part, Microsoft noted that the agreements with Real over Rhapsody are not exclusive, meaning that Microsoft could partner with others or offer its own subscription service. Gates stressed that the company has not announced any plans to do so, and both he and Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith characterized Tuesday's announcement as a first step toward what's possible between Real and Microsoft.

But, Smith added, "There's no guarantee that further steps will follow."

Both companies agreed that the deal will fundamentally change a longstanding relationship of animosity between the two competitors, however.

"Coming out of this, we wanted peace," RealNetworks's general counsel Bob Kimball said in an interview. "We didn't want to exchange a hot war for a cold war. We wanted collaboration, that's what we got out of the deal."

[bobby_brady]

RealNetworks was lame anyways

I hated using their player. Just trying to download the thing was a problem. First they tried to hide the free version on their site. Second, there were marketing offers that were checked by default but hidden. You had to scroll to find them. Third, was their pathetic marketing.

[Aardasp]

Yes & No :-)

I agree with the negatives you site, I am also troubled with the way they are now doing some things... ...however, I have used "Real" since version 1, and I have always found their player to be excellent.

Since I am a firm believer in having a choice I am prepared to hang in there with REAL for now, and perhaps they will become less "shifty" in the future, and I am hoping this arrangement with MS will be a good thing for users everywhere.

[bobby_brady]

RealNetworks was lame anyways

I hated using their player. Just trying to download the thing was a problem. First they tried to hide the free version on their site. Second, there were marketing offers that were checked by default but hidden. You had to scroll to find them. Third, was their pathetic marketing.

[Aardasp]

Yes & No :-)

I agree with the negatives you site, I am also troubled with the way they are now doing some things... ...however, I have used "Real" since version 1, and I have always found their player to be excellent.

Since I am a firm believer in having a choice I am prepared to hang in there with REAL for now, and perhaps they will become less "shifty" in the future, and I am hoping this arrangement with MS will be a good thing for users everywhere.

[brian.lee]

hahaha...

"Apple does great products and has done a number of them in the music (realm)," Glaser said. "At the end of the day, we think consumers want choice. We think consumers want openness...Over time--it won't happen overnight--I think 'open' will beat 'closed.'"

The tables have turned have they not??? Openness... Ya you say that now that your crippled and slowly dying turn back the clock 5 years before iTunes music store was around I seem to recall Real being the jackasses.

[mstlyevil]

Definition of openess

What they mean by openess is that they are free to compete with Apple in a closed source propietery type of way. They do not mean making all their codecs open source for the general public to enjoy.

[brian.lee]

hahaha...

"Apple does great products and has done a number of them in the music (realm)," Glaser said. "At the end of the day, we think consumers want choice. We think consumers want openness...Over time--it won't happen overnight--I think 'open' will beat 'closed.'"

The tables have turned have they not??? Openness... Ya you say that now that your crippled and slowly dying turn back the clock 5 years before iTunes music store was around I seem to recall Real being the jackasses.

[mstlyevil]

Definition of openess

What they mean by openess is that they are free to compete with Apple in a closed source propietery type of way. They do not mean making all their codecs open source for the general public to enjoy.

[Earl Benser]

The usual MS solution....

... when they get caught with their foot off the base, the MS war
chest comes into action to buy off the plaintiff. It does seem to
work, right from the first when Bill got caught promising DOS to
IBM when he didn't have anything like that available. Allen saved
Gates' ass by shucking a DOS like item from a local programmer
for like $75,000. A little bit of MS innovating (maybe from CFM)
and IBM DOS was born. The war chest was begun, and it has
been very useful over the years.

Unfortunately, MS's technique of buying off the plaintiff
sometimes also puts the plaintiff into the MS fold. Real seems to
have been sucked in that way, and based on what I have seen of
Real, Gates would be better off sticking with WMP. And having
both Real and WMP is likely to cause MS interbreeding with very
defective results.

Time will tell, and in the meantime, I go on with iTunes, and my
IiPod Mega audio and video player. Someday I may go back and
see what happened to Real, or to WMP.

[SystemsJunky]

Real...What a JOKE.

How about real just stops developing the REALly Crappy player and just allow MS to use the codecs within WiMP. Then Glaser can bask in the glory of his millions and go play with himself and steve jobs.

It begs the question

Q. When will M$ be able to make more money - licencing their technology to others, rather than locking up the respective market?

On that day......I celebrate - a M$ that enables others, takes the licencing money & does NOT stifle competition......and it COULD happen.

[Earl Benser]

The usual MS solution....

... when they get caught with their foot off the base, the MS war
chest comes into action to buy off the plaintiff. It does seem to
work, right from the first when Bill got caught promising DOS to
IBM when he didn't have anything like that available. Allen saved
Gates' ass by shucking a DOS like item from a local programmer
for like $75,000. A little bit of MS innovating (maybe from CFM)
and IBM DOS was born. The war chest was begun, and it has
been very useful over the years.

Unfortunately, MS's technique of buying off the plaintiff
sometimes also puts the plaintiff into the MS fold. Real seems to
have been sucked in that way, and based on what I have seen of
Real, Gates would be better off sticking with WMP. And having
both Real and WMP is likely to cause MS interbreeding with very
defective results.

Time will tell, and in the meantime, I go on with iTunes, and my
IiPod Mega audio and video player. Someday I may go back and
see what happened to Real, or to WMP.

[SystemsJunky]

Real...What a JOKE.

How about real just stops developing the REALly Crappy player and just allow MS to use the codecs within WiMP. Then Glaser can bask in the glory of his millions and go play with himself and steve jobs.

It begs the question

Q. When will M$ be able to make more money - licencing their technology to others, rather than locking up the respective market?

On that day......I celebrate - a M$ that enables others, takes the licencing money & does NOT stifle competition......and it COULD happen.

[Heebee Jeebies]

This is so bogus...

Now it seems like any company that can't put out a decent product goes after Microsoft, blaming them for their lame duck product.

Real didn't get crushed because of Windows Media Player and Microsoft it go crushed because they had crap software. I have never seen any program that installs for advertising crap the Real's products.

Real needs to get real and realize that their stuff sucks, it isn't worth money and it isn't worth downloading for free with all of the adware crap.

Microsoft shouldn't pay them a cent. But, I guess these days this is a businesses servive. They don't do it because they have a good product, a product that consumers like and want, they do it by law suites.

Robert

[Heebee Jeebies]

This is so bogus...

Now it seems like any company that can't put out a decent product goes after Microsoft, blaming them for their lame duck product.

Real didn't get crushed because of Windows Media Player and Microsoft it go crushed because they had crap software. I have never seen any program that installs for advertising crap the Real's products.

Real needs to get real and realize that their stuff sucks, it isn't worth money and it isn't worth downloading for free with all of the adware crap.

Microsoft shouldn't pay them a cent. But, I guess these days this is a businesses servive. They don't do it because they have a good product, a product that consumers like and want, they do it by law suites.

Robert

[unknown unknown]

Consumers what choice

and indeed they have it. Many of them have chosen not to uses Real service. They've opted instead for iTunes and to a lesser extent Napster 2.0. Real did it's self in when decided to hide spyware in a version of Real player (which was discovered by GRC's founder Steve Gibson) and configuring the installation program in such a way as to maximize the potential to for user to sign up for extra services they didn't necessarly want as the opt-outs where hidden in various places through out the installation. As far as Real player goes, for a fair length of time they had their website designed to make it very hard to find the free version. Most of the obvious links lead to a pay version.

Totally agree

Yep that's the time I used my choice to uninstall Real. No more spyware from Real.

Microsoft needs friends to make up marketshare against Apple. This is nothing more than a financial life-raft for Real, since Real and all the other "Play's for Sure" companies are failing financially.

Rio is down, Real was close, Napster is already so far in the red it's just a matter of time before that plug gets pulled.

tic tic tic...

[unknown unknown]

Consumers what choice

and indeed they have it. Many of them have chosen not to uses Real service. They've opted instead for iTunes and to a lesser extent Napster 2.0. Real did it's self in when decided to hide spyware in a version of Real player (which was discovered by GRC's founder Steve Gibson) and configuring the installation program in such a way as to maximize the potential to for user to sign up for extra services they didn't necessarly want as the opt-outs where hidden in various places through out the installation. As far as Real player goes, for a fair length of time they had their website designed to make it very hard to find the free version. Most of the obvious links lead to a pay version.

Totally agree

Yep that's the time I used my choice to uninstall Real. No more spyware from Real.

Microsoft needs friends to make up marketshare against Apple. This is nothing more than a financial life-raft for Real, since Real and all the other "Play's for Sure" companies are failing financially.

Rio is down, Real was close, Napster is already so far in the red it's just a matter of time before that plug gets pulled.

tic tic tic...

[digitallysick]

real networks = garbage

the best thing real player ever made, was the first few versions of real, where it was just a player that played .ram or whatever files. Now its trash, rhapshody is lame to, together with M$ it will be more garbage put with windows........ and windows media player is terrible!!! why cant someone just make a media player like VLC , make it come with all codecs!

[digitallysick]

real networks = garbage

the best thing real player ever made, was the first few versions of real, where it was just a player that played .ram or whatever files. Now its trash, rhapshody is lame to, together with M$ it will be more garbage put with windows........ and windows media player is terrible!!! why cant someone just make a media player like VLC , make it come with all codecs!

[Mendz]

$aving Real...

... because Real needs $aving. I think they just need the cash ASAP... I see M$ winning in this deal. Those technology solutions to support Real are blank and can be done to support anyone. Let's just say Real will simply be aligned to the same level of partnership as those that can be listed in the Media Player's guide. Pffft...

[Mendz]

$aving Real...

... because Real needs $aving. I think they just need the cash ASAP... I see M$ winning in this deal. Those technology solutions to support Real are blank and can be done to support anyone. Let's just say Real will simply be aligned to the same level of partnership as those that can be listed in the Media Player's guide. Pffft...

[Earl Benser]

One other thought....

... this is an attempt by MS to try to outflank the EU court decision,
since Real was one of the primary plaintiffs. Sneaky litte bunch of
lawyers at MS = perfect match for Ballmer

[Earl Benser]

Doh....

This version of the article points that out.

Sorry for my flair for the obvious........

[Earl Benser]

One other thought....

... this is an attempt by MS to try to outflank the EU court decision,
since Real was one of the primary plaintiffs. Sneaky litte bunch of
lawyers at MS = perfect match for Ballmer

[Earl Benser]

Doh....

This version of the article points that out.

Sorry for my flair for the obvious........

Microsoft, the Michael Jackson of Tech

MS continues to staunch legal wrangles by infusing cash into the former competitors. Sounds like the Michael Jackson approach to me.

Meanwhile, Real is like the Woolworths of Tech. They sell nothing but junk and are soon to be out of business.

[R. U. Sirius]

That's funny

I think I'll use that line, MS uses the Michael Jackson method of settling lawsuits. :-)

Microsoft, the Michael Jackson of Tech

MS continues to staunch legal wrangles by infusing cash into the former competitors. Sounds like the Michael Jackson approach to me.

Meanwhile, Real is like the Woolworths of Tech. They sell nothing but junk and are soon to be out of business.

[R. U. Sirius]

That's funny

I think I'll use that line, MS uses the Michael Jackson method of settling lawsuits. :-)

Meanwhile, in other news

Glaser may be happy now, but let's see what Apple has in store at their "special event." My guess is that is will be something that Glaser will absolutely despise.

Meanwhile, in other news

Glaser may be happy now, but let's see what Apple has in store at their "special event." My guess is that is will be something that Glaser will absolutely despise.