Just yesterday on vnunet.com:
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1140128

Finally people can expect official WMA and ASF support on Linux.

Maybe that's another reason to create a WMA forum?
(Or, at least, an "other formats" forum)

omg, why would microsoft do that??? anybody that likes linux must be intelligent enough to use either vorbis, aac or flac ... instead of that wm9 all-in-wonder wannabe

Maybe they've realized that MPEG-4 could be a real threat... And there are much more working solutions for MPEG-4 on Linux right now than for WMA/WMV/ASF. See e.g. the open source MPEG4IP project, but also hardware implementions combining Linux and MPEG-4 have been released recently.

Microsoft's business model is endangered... IMHO they have little choice but to recognize Linux. Even this much has to be acutely painful for them.

http://www.aaxnet.com/editor/edit029.html#mspath

A few years ago IE 3 was also available for various unixes.

I for sure am not gona use propriatery and lower quality Microsoft media formats which are here only to try lock people to use only Windows and to help make monopolistic companies even more powerfull using crap like TCPA and Palladium. I just say no to bad formats like this.

now if microsoft would port directx to linux that would pown

I don't really see how a LINUX VERSION of the codecs will lock you on WINDOWS.

Come Linux join us in the TCPA world domination, we will port our apps for you.

Talk about people that enjoy listening to streaming. They will be very happy if they can listen to their WMA streams on linux.



WMP is also available for Mac.

Besides, you can decode WMA almost anywhere with ffmpeg.

AFAIK there will be no port of 'Windows Media Player'. Windows Media will only be available for linux on embedded devices for hardware vendors; no consumer players for 'normal' Linux Ditributions! Even if they would port WMP I assume (read: 'hope') the user base would be rather small

No offence,
David