Windows needs better multimedia support

[K.Mandla]

So I headed over to the Ubuntu Podcast Forum to fill my mind with Ubuntu goodness while at work, and downloaded the latest ogg.

Now in case you hadn't heard, my witless employer forces me to use WinXP. I don't complain, though; I'm fairly certain I'd get the axe if I did.

I open Windows Media Player, point it at the ogg, and this what I get.



What the ... ? WMP can't open an ogg? That's LAME (no pun intended)! You'd think Windows would be able to handle any media file I give it, as soon as it was installed. Well at least it should.

But I'm willing to give it another chance. I've got Winamp installed. Winamp will play anything. But Winamp, if anything, does worse!



Foiled again!

You know, those people at Nullsoft really need to put more effort into Winamp. It should open any audio file I throw at it, as soon as I install it. I don't know what the problem is, but those uber-geeks should try harder. And it should come with the default Debian skin. That one looks like my Dad's stereo from 1975.

Okay, last ditch effort: Windows Media Classic, with Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative. Keeps me from boggin' down the boss's machine with QuickTime and RealPlayer both.

But what's this?!



Failure! Strike three! Now I shall have to suffer in silence, with no UbuntuNews until I get home.

The problem here is obvious: Windows XP just isn't ready for the desktop. It can't open my audio files, and these third-party programs are buggy and incomplete.

Maybe once these things get fixed, I'll try Windows XP again. But until then, it's just too much work to get it running, and I haven't got time to configure it.

Now if you'll excuse me, the boss is coming my way.

[nalmeth]

Funny,

I've been liking your threads as of late K.Mandla!

[meng]

I agree entirely. I also would submit that you make your point with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, nevertheless I applaud the effort. If you have the time, maybe you could apply that satirical mind of yours to lampoon this website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/Suppor...efoxMyths.html
which inexplicably was the focus of a recent thread.

(Actually, I'm not seriously suggesting you ought to do this, but it does annoy me that someone thought this site was worth pointing out.)

[Skia_42]

Why exactly are we talking about how much Windows sucks? I thoguht we had already established that fact through common sense...

[Iandefor]

lol!

[Jucato]

And people thought Linux didn't support as much multimedia as Windows.

I also experienced a slightly similar situation, but I think mine would be a bit worse, considering that that media I was trying to play was a DivX AVI. The video played without problems in Kubuntu. But when my sister tried to play the exact same file in Windows. It wouldn't play at all. Of course it's a codec issue. But you'd think you would have better luck playing it since it's in DivX AVI format.

Windows was never ready for the desktop. It just so happened that it was the only feasible alternative back then, so what choice did we have?

[rbalfour]

Rofl!

[croak77]

I think most people would rather have mp3 support out of the box then ogg vorbis support.

[3rdalbum]

In order to use Ogg Vorbis files on Windows, you need to activate a huge software repository called "The Web". After using a graphical frontend ("Internet Explorer") for the Windows package management system ("HTTP") to download the software, it then asks you a lot of questions and does not allow the installation process to be conducted in the background.

If a new version of "libogg-vorbis" is released, you must manually go into Internet Explorer and compare version numbers to see if you have the latest version. If "libogg-vorbis" depends on one or more packages which you don't already have installed, you must manually resolve those dependancies.

If you don't like the idea of having to search a large, unindexed software repository like The Web, maybe you should use a different computer like "Abacus", or "HumanBrain"?

[Jucato]

In order to use Ogg Vorbis files on Windows, you need to activate a huge software repository called "The Web". After using a graphical frontend ("Internet Explorer") for the Windows package management system ("HTTP") to download the software, it then asks you a lot of questions and does not allow the installation process to be conducted in the background.

If a new version of "libogg-vorbis" is released, you must manually go into Internet Explorer and compare version numbers to see if you have the latest version. If "libogg-vorbis" depends on one or more packages which you don't already have installed, you must manually resolve those dependancies.

If you don't like the idea of having to search a large, unindexed software repository like The Web, maybe you should use a different computer like "Abacus", or "HumanBrain"?

roflmao!

It's quite unfortunate that the Windows package managers (.CAB, InstallShield, .EXE, etc), do not resolve dependencies, specially when it comes to libraries (DLLs).

A thought just came to me: why the hell did they call it "InstallShield"? Who is it supposed to shield, and from what?