Microsoft Ups Ante Vs. iTunes
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NEW YORK - Microsoft&#39;s new offensive in the digital music industry will seek to significantly alter the competitive landscape in a new market that until now has largely been dominated by Apple Computer and its powerful combination of the iPod portable
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That's the question that occurs to me as I read this piece in Roughly Drafted. It's about how Apple is kicking Microsoft's butt at the high end of the desktop market, and how Microsoft seems to be bumbling its way out of desktop hegemony anyway. Linux is mentioned only twice in this long piece, but the harbingery of the references are significant. Here's the enclosing quote: Combined with the dominance of the iPod over devices using Microsoft's PlaysForSure, the imminent goring of Windows Mobile by the iPhone, and the shift of support across the industry from Windows to Linux in servers, the days of Microsoft's monopolistic grip on the desktop are winding down.  Apple doesn't have to take a majority share of the desktop market to win, it only needs to take the most valuable segments of the market.  Once that happens, Microsoft will be forced to choose whether it wants to battle Mac OS X for control of the slick consumer desktop, or repurpose Windows as a cheaper, mass market alternative to Linux in corporate sales.  And, at some point, consumer sales as well.
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Apple&#39;S iTunes caused upset yesterday by securing the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It&#39;s Christmas for sale at 79p, instead of the Â£1.49 its rivals, from Napster to HMV, are asking customers to pay.
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Microsoft Corp's. newly launched MSN  Music download service has a long way to go to catch up with  iTunes and other online services, competitors said on Thursday.
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Apple Computerâs iTunes Music Store sold its 150 millionth song in mid-October, another milestone in its push to stay ahead of digital music rivals such as Microsoft and Dell.
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The software giant's new pay-per-download service offers an easy-to-use interface and above-average sound quality. But some critics wonder if the MSN Music service will foster a widening rift in digital music security standards. By Xeni Jardin.
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Microsoft&#39;s attempt at a digital music distribution service &quot;falls just short&quot; of Apple&#39;s iTunes, says The Washington Post.
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As Todd Bishop notes today, Microsoft isn&#39;t known for snazzy product names. But it may have scored a cheeky coup with the name chosen for the Media Player-free version of its OS that it&#39;s been ordered to offer in Europe: Windows XP Reduced Media Edition.
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Wait for next iTunes before upgrading, firm suggests Windows-using iPod owners have been advised to wait for the next release of iTunes jukebox software before upgrading to Windows Vista if they want to avoid "compatibility issues" between their favoured player and the new operating system.â¦
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DENVER (Billboard) - After 2006 -- a year when virtually no  one managed to launch a digital music service in competition  with Apple's dominant iTunes -- 2007 was a refreshing change of  pace.
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Microsoft&#39;s WMA, Apple&#39;s ACC, Sony&#39;s Altrac and others -- compete in a variety of digital music devices, support for MP3 is becoming a required ingredient for any successful portable player.
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Microsoft Corp.&#39;s MSN Music online download service fired another salvo this week at Apple rival iTunes Music Store by announcing its expansion into new European countries.
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Blog: Upgrades based on purchase history allows users to recover previously purchased and lost iTunes files
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Microsoft insists its music store differs from iTunes, but the two services sure have a lot in common. The company will sell songs for $1 like Apple, and plans to match the volume of songs Apple makes available to users.
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InfoWorld - On the day Apple revealed its first Wi-Fi-enabled, touchscreen iPod, Microsoft&#39;s rival to Apple&#39;s wildly popular multimedia player got a little less expensive.
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Apple's market-leading iTunes online music store took a one-two punch yesterday as heavyweight rivals stepped up their efforts to unseat the king of digital music.
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Microsoft's MSN Music store is by far the most capable rival to Apple's iTunes Music Store, even if it doesn't yet surpass it.-Rob Pegoraro