[mdawson]

While I do not watch movies on my computer, I fully agree with the position that you take here, Casademike . It is not about being anti-Microsoft so much as being extremely wary of Microsoft?s long-term commitment based on their track record. Microsoft has a well-established history of providing multi-platform support for new technologies, establishing a strangle hold in a market then shoving a flagpole up the hindquarters of everyone not using Windows with no Vaseline.

Remember that we are discussing the same company that,
bq. offered Internet Explorer for the Mac then omitted support for Microsoft Web technologies from the Mac version before pulling the plug on IE altogether; supported WMA and WiMP cross-platform then dumped Mac support as WMA began to gain traction; promised a new level of dedication to the Mac platform when they established their Mac Business Unit, then much like the ?No Child Left Behind? farce, intentionally under funded the division denying the MBU the resources required to bring additional Microsoft products to the Mac (e.g., Access, Visio, etc.); thought they could get away with dropping VBA support from Office:mac because obviously there are no Mac power or corporate users that write code, and; as the developer of Windows was in the perfect position to offer potentially the best and most Windows-compatible virtualization engine for the Mac possible, but instead opted to kill off VirtualPC.
Microsoft already has 90+ percent of the OS segment of the personal computer market, but instead of being smart and making additional money by offering most if not all of their other software on the platform favored by those that have less than zero intention of every switching to Windows, Microsoft consistently chooses to hold a bunch of bananas over Mac users? heads just to pull them away as soon as they achieve ideal ripeness.

I would love to see the projected figures of how much Microsoft has lost in terms of potential profits because of their behavior. The less staunchly anti-Microsoft of Mac users would have been more than happy to buy copies of Microsoft Office:mac (incl. Access, Publisher, etc.; $400 - $680), Microsoft Project ($350 - $1000), Microsoft Visio ($259 Standard/$559 Professional), Visual Studio ($299 - $2,499), etc., if only out of necessarily for cross-platform compatibility. The fact that unlike Windows, which is mostly acquired pre-installed on new computers at OEM pricing, Microsoft?s other software is generally purchased at full or upgrade pricing and as Bill Gates stated back in the late 1990s in reference to Office on the Mac, 20 million potential customers is 20 million potential customers. I am sure that number has increased given Apple?s recent better days. In the 10+ years of the MBU and given the number of products that Microsoft develops that comes to quite a chunk of potential change.

[goodbyelou]

I, too, have been a victim of Peter's drive-by sarcasm. It seems harsh, but I don't think he means it that way.

[whitedog]

The knee-jerk anti-Microsoft rants are getting way old. It's not just Microsoft with an interest in DRM. I'm sure it's part of Netflix's contractual arrangements with content providers - and those providers prefer Microsoft for DRM because Microsoft has been most accommodating to their demands. I expect Netflix had zero choice in the matter. If they wanted to bring "instant watching" to the Mac, no doubt they had to deal with Microsoft. And it wasn't until Silverlight 2 that MS had the technology to offer Netflix the necessary tools to implement their media player on the Mac.

As for FairPlay, it's not Microsoft or Netflix's fault that Apple has not licensed its DRM more widely. Apple has seeded the field to Microsoft on this one, not even trying to compete beyond the iTunes Store.

Look on the up side for a change. First Amazon developed an MP3 downloader that interfaces seamlessly with iTunes on the Mac. Now Netflix is bringing their streaming video service to the Mac. This is a net upgrade for Mac users, who have often in the past been left out in the cold by media companies. So what if Microsoft is involved? In point of fact, MS has partnered with Apple to one degree or another almost from the beginning - to the benefit and profit of both companies.

Personally, I will be glad when the Netflix media player is finally available for the Mac. It will mean I no longer have to fire up Windows XP in VMWare Fusion in order to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix. On the 24" NEC monitor connected to my Mac Pro they look great.

For what it's worth, though, streaming movies run like sludge in Vista, even when I run it native in Boot Camp. So no, I'm not a Microsoft apologist. But I don't subscribe uncritically to the Microsoft as Anti-Christ world view, either. For me, my computer is not a substitute for religion.