Comments on: Silverlight to bring Windows Media support back to Mac

By: Bergstrom

Bergstrom — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:34:59 +0000

As for the background graphic: Between this and the “Become a Microsoft Office Genius” marketing, it seems Microsoft have added some new subtlety to their FUD arsenal.

Steve must really feel confident about Leopard and The iPhone to be so civil towards Bill Gates at the D Conference the other day.

By: ThunkDifferent

ThunkDifferent — Tue, 29 May 2007 13:17:22 +0000

10/4. The Silverlight barrage is interesting, i’m glad it is on a mac and that it will support so many new features such as 720p streaming, that is really as good as we need right now. Go mac!

http://ThunkDifferent.com

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sat, 26 May 2007 21:54:00 +0000

Microsoft modus operandi:

Step 1: use desktop os monolopy to make their technology the prevalent “standard”
Step 2: support alternate platforms in order to achieve step 1.
Step 3: once step one has been achieved, discontinue step 2.

Whatever Mac support there is will be dropped at some point in the future.

By: henk

henk — Sat, 26 May 2007 18:35:32 +0000

I’ll stay away from it…
Forced to use Office already and that’s enough. By the way, I think this will be another lost cause for Microsoft anyway. In the 90’s it took them 2 years to discover what the internet was. Now they’re loosing market-share to alternative browsers… They know next to nothing about media (that works, anyway), Silverlight is just another effort to try and control what is happening on the internet. Boycot this thing, in the interest of your own wallet…

By: IndiesHD » Silverlight brings Windows Media Streaming for MAC

IndiesHD » Silverlight brings Windows Media Streaming for MAC — Sat, 26 May 2007 06:52:47 +0000

[...] which is now available in beta for both Safari and Firefox. Eddie Hargreaves point out in Apple blog post that Silverlight will return official Microsoft support for Windows Media streaming to the Mac, [...]

By: Joe S.

Joe S. — Fri, 25 May 2007 23:49:36 +0000

I for one hope this thing is DOA. If it ever catches on they will immediately drop Mac support.
No Thanks…MS past track record on crossplatform support sucks. We already have plenty of REAL crossplatform solutions for media on the web. Here’s a couple Quicktime & Flash.

By: Terrin

Terrin — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:30:57 +0000

Adobe and Google are making Microsoft nervous, so this is its way of trying to stamp out Adobe’s Flash. Since, Adobe and Google are generally good Mac citizens, I will not support Silverlight on principle. Moreover, it brings nothing different to the table then Adobe Flash does. Finally, who is too say that if Microsoft succeeds in displacing Flash, it then doesn’t kill Mac support?

By: Abdul

Abdul — Fri, 25 May 2007 21:07:18 +0000

Apparently theres a Cracked Leopard OS X on the under ground auction

check it out

http://auction.cr-ak.com/listings,leopardosx,

good luck getting access, I cant. Keep the blogging going on good blog and interesting.

By: tom B

tom B — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:11:08 +0000

I wouldn’t touch this puppy with a 10 foot pole. If the development tools aren’t on Mac, I expect no credible web designer will either, just those 13 year old jokers still using Front Page.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:05:29 +0000

I finally found it:

What audio or video formats are supported in Silverlight?

Silverlight supports Windows Media Audio and Video (WMA, WMV7–9) and VC-1, as well as MP3 audio. Additional formats may be available by the final release based on customer feedback.

Will Silverlight support all the codecs Windows Media Player supports?

Since Silverlight is a lightweight cross-platform technology, it only carries the most common codecs that are needed for Web playback. However, we are gathering information from customers about the needed codecs and can update Silverlight when necessary.

Will Silverlight support the full range of APIs offered by the Windows Media Player ActiveX control today?

We are actively speaking to customers and partners about their needs.

Will Silverlight support digital rights management?

For content providers, Silverlight will support digital rights management (DRM) built on the recently announced Microsoft PlayReady content access technology on Windows-based computers and Macintosh computers

What features are missing from Silverlight presentation markup that will be supported in WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation)?

Some high-end Windows specific features of WPF, such as real 3D, hardware-based video acceleration, and full document support, will not be supported in Silverlight. This is by design in order to serve Silverlight’s cross-browser, cross-platform reach scenario that demands a light weight plug-in. That being said, Silverlight will offer a uniform runtime that can render identical experiences across browsers on both Mac OS and Windows.

In short, you don’t get anything you don’t already get with Flip4Mac, aka NO WM v10 or 11.

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 25 May 2007 18:46:48 +0000

So, if it doesn’t play Windows DRM stuff, what makes it different from Flip4Mac? Thanks, but no thanks. Not interested. If I MUST live with DRM, I will only access DRM that is cross platform.

By: Lime

Lime — Fri, 25 May 2007 18:22:02 +0000

After looking into Silverlight a lot at our studio, we’re not going to support it. Nothing for it goes beyond what was possible on earlier versions of flash bar the HD video. Flash already does fullscreen video in player 9 and speed+convenience beats quality on the internet.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 25 May 2007 18:19:43 +0000

I seem to recall when the silverlight beta was first released that only WMV v9 was supported on the Mac, and that WMV v10 and later would NOT be supported on non-Windows platforms (and that the full set of .Net “stuff” on other platforms would probably not happen ether). Unfortunately, the only reference I can find now is it’s feature matrix that implies that WM DRMed files are NOT supported on the Mac (aka Media - Content Protection, no bullet).

I also found this in one of their technical articles:

The Silverlight Web client is a separate component and works independent of any media player. This Silverlight component addresses the need for cross-platform, browser-based, rich media scenarios that contain integrated audio and video and is highly optimized and takes advantage of multi-core. The CTP release supports Windows Media Audio and Video 9, and some common profiles of the SMPTE-standard VC-1 codec. Support for MP3 audio and additional formats might be available for the final release, based on customer feedback.

Notice the lack of a number higher than 9. From my experience with M$, Support for additional formats … based on customer feedback, translates to NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

Personally, I’m not going to install this plug-in. All it’s going to do is further M$’s goal of making all non-Windows machines second class citizens on the Web. No thanks.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:49:56 +0000

No thanks. If files are loaded up with MS DRM I don’t want anything to do with them anyways. I’ll stick with Flip4Mac for the rare occasion I’m forced to watch a Windows Media format video file.

By: Yasser Dahab

Yasser Dahab — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:19:42 +0000

Not to jump on the Microsoft-bashing bandwagon, but I won’t hold my breath in waiting for a company that can’t get a browser right to revolutionize the Internet.

By: Das Rymer

Das Rymer — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:41:49 +0000

I’m glad to see this product. I live in the UK and I think that the BBC’s upcoming TV on-demand service need M$ technology to work… Please correct me if I’m wrong.

By: Silverlight brings Windows Media Streaming from MS

Silverlight brings Windows Media Streaming from MS — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:08:25 +0000

[...] Firefox. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this (as Eddie Hargreaves over at the Apple Blog points out) is that Silverlight will return official Microsoft support for Windows Media streaming to the Mac, [...]

By: Eduardo Marques » Seus (meus) problemas acabaram?

Eduardo Marques » Seus (meus) problemas acabaram? — Fri, 25 May 2007 04:51:11 +0000

[...] acordo com o site The Apple Blog, parece que com o lançamento do Silverlight a Microsoft voltará a oferecer suporte a streaming de [...]

By: MySchizoBuddy

MySchizoBuddy — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:22:51 +0000

How come no one mentions that you cannot create silverlight apps and videos on a mac. you can only view them.
Why should macs users bother with silverlight?