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To: gzubeck who wrote (207964)	8/8/2006 11:21:25 PM
From: pgerassi	Respond to of 275872

Dear Gzubeck: 1) Mplayer exists for XP. So does MythTV, Xine, viewtv, Ogle. Just because most use it under Linux does not mean you can't use it on Windows. So your arguments about not using this free software are moot. 2) The problem with Japanese HD DVD material is that its encoded with H.264 instead of a MPEG variant. So H.264 discussions directly impact HD DVDs. 3) Samsung was going to try to make a dual format DVD (HD and Blu-ray) player for computers. Now only LG seems to be making one. 4) There are non DVD optical storage systems both using 12cm (5.25") and 30cm (laser disc size) that store much more than 20+GB. They do tend to be pricy as volumes are low. I am hoping someone will just make a Blue LD DVD record/player that uses a non DRM straight forward data storage format like CDs with the 20-25GB SS SL capacity. 5) You can transcode H.264, HD-DVD and Blu-ray material into a easier to decode format non real time (off-line) with any CPU (ts stream or MPEG-2 making it easy for a STB, PC or HDTV to decode in HW). 6) HD-DVD and Blu-ray encoding can be broken (likely with a non US site). It doesn't stop a determined pirate. So any MPAA crap just makes their customer's life harder without fixing the real problem, pirating is too lucrative to stop. 100 million $2.50 a copy won't be pirated, but 1 million at $25 a copy will. The former also brings in more revenue and profit. 7) 64 bit WDM drivers are Microsoft's problem, not Linux. Most Linux HW is far better documented and thus easier to support. And likely to have XP64 drivers as well. The bestr HW usually comes from companies that don't care what software you use, they just want to sell you their HW. If they have OS drivers for Linux, they likely have OS Windows drivers too. 8) Linux is very user friendly. You can set it up so that normal users never see Linux unless they want to. I have set up many turn key vertical integrated applications where the user never sees that he is running Linux. And when it breaks, they just take it to a Linux guru and have it fixed, just like with Windows to a service shop. There is no real difference there except with Linux, they need to take it back far less and when it is fixed, it stays fixed. Pete