Microsoft spreading FUD

[pretender2j]

I'm sorry if this is a double post.

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/hardware/xbox360/whyhddvd.htm

It's the same old HD-DVD FUD, but unlike someone who knows nothing saying it on a forum and having no weight to it, this is right there as gospel on the MS XBOX website. Talk about being out of date.

Manufacturing: Concerns developed regarding Blu-Ray's ability to manufacturer the discs at the quality originally intended. In fact, with the Blu-Ray launch in Japan, the discs are being created at single-layer 25 Gigabyte capacity, which is half of the originally intended 50 gigabytes.

Out of date, and who ever said anything about quality of the discs?

Easy to Damage: Because Blu-Ray discs are encoded near the very top layer of the disc with limited protection, the data is literally at higher risk to damage. Conversely, HD-DVD maintains physical protection similar to standard DVD.

Talking about out of date.... They seem to be forgeting the matter of the DURABIS2 protective layer that was developed by TDK.

Copy Protection: Blu-Ray utilizes not one, but two different forms of Copy Protection, adding an extra layer of protection and complexity that just didn't appear necessary.

Don't know where this came from? I thought Microsoft was for copy protection and harsh DRM?

VC1 Compression: While both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are required to be compatible with three different compression technologies (including VC1), an intriguing trend has already begun. Content providers (movie studios) for HD-DVD are nearly unanimously using the brand new VC1 compression technology, whereas Blu-Ray providers are sticking with the ten-year-old MPEG 2 compression that has been used on standard DVDs. With VC1, HD-DVDs are able to compress much higher quality video into a significantly smaller package.

Out of date, again. I love this bit 'into a significantly smaller package', yes it is SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER. Try 20Gb smaller.

Dual Layer: HD-DVDs are already available to manufacturer in both single and dual layer (15 GB and 30 GB respectively), whereas Blu-Ray has not yet made available its dual-layer disc. Moreover, most studios are already using the 30 GB dual-layer HD-DVD disc.

Out of date, AGAIN. Most of these points only apply, if at all, to the first run of Blu-Ray discs. (As I'm sure you all know)

Hybrid Disc: HD-DVD offers the ability to encode both a regular DVD format and HD-DVD format on the same disc. If you purchase a hybrid disc, you can flip to one side and play the movie on any standard DVD Player, and when you do get an HD-DVD player you can flip to the other side and play it in true HD.

They MAY have a point here, but it's a VERY weak one at best. Sure it's nice to be able to buy movie now and play them in HD later on. But the average consumer won't pay more for a movie just for the promise of something in the future. Why buy a $25 dollar movie when the exact same thing is next to it for $15? Would be most useful if DVD's were removed from shelves and we had no ther choice, but I can't see that happening.

In-Movie Experience: Mandatory for all HD-DVD players is a secondary video decoder (not available for Blu-Ray). This allows the disc to play separate video streams, which on its own completely changes the opportunities available for bonus features. That way, you can not only watch the movie, but also "watch" the behind the scenes features that apply to the scene you're watching simultaneously.

I'd like to see an XBOX360 do this. Considering this, 'All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD. At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game).' From a Microsoft employee no doubt. (from here http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archi...gence-day.aspx) Also on this point I have heard that this make an already noisy XBOX360 even more so.

In conclusion, Micosoft should stop spreading FUD and I'm going to go and roll on the floor laughing at MS trying to say the XBOX360 could play TWO HD-DVD streams at once when it can only just play one....... etc.

JB

[Jeff®]

[dobyblue]

I'm pretty sure it can play two streams.
The PS3 can play 3 AVC streams.
This allows for the IME on HD DVD and the upcoming Blu-ray release of The Descent will show what Blu-ray's interactivity is capable of.

[Blackraven]

Firmware updates will take the PS3 further and make it more acceptable to a wider demographic (especially the SDTV/EDTV owners) and even more for current HDTV owners.

We haven't even seen the PS3's best yet, not even by a longshot.

This is just the beginning for the PS3.

[Spankey]

I don't think you can call that FUD. Outright Lies is more to the point..

[JTK]

Same @#$#%, different day.

Anyone who knows Microsoft's history and business practics for the past 20 years or so knows this is all typical of them.

[Blu-ray San]

It's funny how Microsoft can trash talk Bluray / PS3 about having "so many problems" but can't even fix their bugged out Windows XPwith all those update downloads.....

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray San

It's funny how Microsoft can trash talk Bluray / PS3 about having "so many problems" but can't even fix their bugged out Windows XPwith all those update downloads.....

Or how about accusing and bashing Sony and BD for the past year with "not delivering on promises" while we a plethora of promised features stripped from even the most advanced versions of Windows Vista so it can finally make it out at the end of January 07?

^^ This is, of course, after numerous delays, but of course the sky wasn't falling on that like it was when Sony delayed the Japanese launch of the PS3 from March until November.

[Blu-ray San]

Originally Posted by JTK

Or how about accusing and bashing Sony and BD for the past year with "not delivering on promises" while we a plethora of promised features stripped from even the most advanced versions of Windows Vista so it can finally make it out at the end of January 07?

^^ This is, of course, after numerous delays, but of course the sky wasn't falling on that like it was when Sony delayed the Japanese launch of the PS3 from March until November.

^^My point exactly. It sux because it's the only OS I can deal with but Windows Vista is going to have many problems (bugs) for the start ust watch...

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray San

^^My point exactly. It sux because it's the only OS I can deal with but Windows Vista is going to have many problems (bugs) for the start ust watch...

Long ago, I learned: Never buy a new Windows OS until it's been out on the streets a minimum of six months.

[Spankey]

All this MS nonsense really makes me want to run out and buy a Mac! Funny seeing things from the other side.

[WriteSimply]

MS is touting 360 and creating FUD for PS3? How'd that happen? They should concentrate on fixing the HD download problem they have now. And maybe selling a DIY kit so that people can poke a hole and add a HDMI 1.3 port on their 360.

I'm sure corporate users are buzzing with excitement over Windows Vista right now. Hopefully they'll stick to their promise that Vista won't crash.


fuad

[Blu-ray San]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

MS is touting 360 and creating FUD for PS3? How'd that happen? They should concentrate on fixing the HD download problem they have now. And maybe selling a DIY kit so that people can poke a hole and add a HDMI 1.3 port on their 360.

I'm sure corporate users are buzzing with excitement over Windows Vista right now. Hopefully they'll stick to their promise that Vista won't crash.


fuad

I sure hope it won't CRASH cause I don't like the Mac OS

[theknub]

im not criticizing you at all.

you are the first person i have ever heard say that and i find it hilarious

off topic:
personally, i do like macs and think they are powerful and get a lot done. would i ever trade in a PC, hell no. i like how easy it is to customize a PC (internally and externally). i also like the "power" i have with a PC and how, if i want, i can pretty much do what i want with it. a mac has too many safeguards and it is way too difficult to get into a lot of the nitty gritty things that i want to do. i know someone will step in and say you can do this or that, but it does take a lot of work to get to that point.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by sltmag

All this MS nonsense really makes me want to run out and buy a Mac! Funny seeing things from the other side.

I just need Apple to step up on a few more things and I may very well buy a Mac next time around myself.

All I need Windows for is PC gaming. I couldn't care less outside of that.

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

MS is touting 360 and creating FUD for PS3? How'd that happen? They should concentrate on fixing the HD download problem they have now. And maybe selling a DIY kit so that people can poke a hole and add a HDMI 1.3 port on their 360.

I'm sure corporate users are buzzing with excitement over Windows Vista right now. Hopefully they'll stick to their promise that Vista won't crash.

fuad

I'm a corporate user, and all I can say is, I'm not buzzing with excitement over Windows Vista at all. It is hardly a change (at least an original change), IMO. Looks just like same old XP, but with a glass skin, and about a dozen things copied right out of Apple's OS. I'm currently on Windows Vista RC1 (Build 5600) with my laptop and I won't sugar coat it--it blows. It crashes coming out of hibernation, it crashes coming out of sleep, it prompts you incessantly for administrative access when doing mundane tasks like opening Computer Managment console, when you are logged on as an administrator.

I state it copies Apple, because there are certain features that certainly came from Mac OS X. One, would be the "Switch Between Windows" feature that is a rip off of Expose. A second would be the "Windows SideBar" which is very dock-esque (but you can only place it on the left or right of your screen (real original there Microsoft). A third would be the use of "gadgets" which are well known in the Mac universe as "widgets." And before those Konfabulator nutcases come and flame me, do realize I know Pixoria had created widgets even before Apple, but Apple was the first to integrate widgets seamlessly within the OS. A fourth would be the real-time searching feature called Spotlight on the Mac and now can be found on Vista under a different name. A fifth would be the capability you have on a Mac to dock a running movie, and still see that the movie has a miniature movie playing in the dock,...yep that has been copied too. A sixth would be the ALT-TAB feature that let's you switch between program, now a lot more Mac like. I've even been suprised that the way they group personal profiles now appears to be more Mac like in that they dropped the whole "My" moniker (thank God) before My Documents, My Movies, My Pictures, My Music, etc. and have created the equivalent of a home folder named after your username with your Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, etc tucked all nicely under it just like a Mac. Moreover, you now have what appears to be a more centralized database of contact information called "Contacts" which likens to Mac OS X's centralized Address Book. And it goes on and on, but I think you all get the point.

Regardless, I guess it should be a form of flattery for Apple,...I guess they had the banners "Redmond, start your photocopiers..." for a reason at one of the MacWorld Expos.

In summary, I found the RC1 release very buggy, full of copied features, laking originality in terms of the GUI (as it is basically the same), and to top it all off, it takes for ever to boot up and shutdown (and I'm running it on a dual core HP laptop that I just received from work). They have a ways to go, IMO. The sad thing is, most people will think they came up with the features above. In any case, Microsoft needs to spread FUD, because once you run their buggy OS and other products, you have reality hit you albeit a sum of $$$ later though.

[Blu-ray San]

Originally Posted by theknub

im not criticizing you at all.

you are the first person i have ever heard say that and i find it hilarious

off topic:
personally, i do like macs and think they are powerful and get a lot done. would i ever trade in a PC, hell no. i like how easy it is to customize a PC (internally and externally). i also like the "power" i have with a PC and how, if i want, i can pretty much do what i want with it. a mac has too many safeguards and it is way too difficult to get into a lot of the nitty gritty things that i want to do. i know someone will step in and say you can do this or that, but it does take a lot of work to get to that point.

Personally, besides working in Adobe programs, I do not like the Mac OS. I used to use Mac's back in college in some design classes and it seemed impossible to get from point A to B without wondering (WTF). I eventually learned how to use Illustrator & photoshop on the sytem but everything else I did not get.

To some ppl Mac OS is great but I don't see it being a big majority as everybody uses windows and its just way simpler. I don't like or support Microsoft in anyway (especially after the Xbox, Zune, etc) but when it comes down to a computers, Windows is the ONLY way to go for me.

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray San

Personally, besides working in Adobe programs, I do not like the Mac OS. I used to use Mac's back in college in some design classes and it seemed impossible to get from point A to B without wondering (WTF). I eventually learned how to use Illustrator & photoshop on the sytem but everything else I did not get.

To some ppl Mac OS is great but I don't see it being a big majority as everybody uses windows and its just way simpler. I don't like or support Microsoft in anyway (especially after the Xbox, Zune, etc) but when it comes down to a computers, Windows is the ONLY way to go for me.

I do respect your preference. Just out of curiosity, when you used Mac's back in college, were they running Mac OS X or Mac OS 9 or lower? I ask, because there is a HUGE diffence between the current Mac OS and any flavor of Mac OS 9 and lower. I used to think Macs were horrible pre OS X (memory management, multitasking, and stability were issues with me with 9 and lower, aka Classic). Once I used OS X though in 2000, I was hooked. Very stable, intuitive, and not to mention freakin pretty.

Anyhow, if it was Mac OS9, I recommend visiting your local Apple store and giving the OS a run, I promise you won't be dissapointed, but then again you still might not like it.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by marzetta7

I do respect your preference. Just out of curiosity, when you used Mac's back in college, were they running Mac OS X or Mac OS 9 or lower? I ask, because there is a HUGE diffence between the current Mac OS and any flavor of Mac OS 9 and lower. I used to think Macs were horrible pre OS X (memory management, multitasking, and stability were issues with me with 9 and lower, aka Classic). Once I used OS X though in 2000, I was hooked. Very stable, intuitive, and not to mention freakin pretty.

Anyhow, if it was Mac OS9, I recommend visiting your local Apple store and giving the OS a run, I promise you won't be dissapointed, but then again you still might not like it.

Yeah OS9 sucked balls, but OSX is great, the fact that M$ have basically carbon copied it for Vista just goes to show how good it is.

[Blu-ray San]

the machines were running Mac OS 9