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Come on Microsoft what kind of bone head move is that to call a product - “Reduced Media Edition” (RME) and then contend that a name such as that would not have the effect of making some consumers think that the “RME” is less functional then the version of XP that included Windows Media Player (WMP).

For those that have not been following the story here is a fast recap - Microsoft lost a case in the EU (European Union) regarding bundling WMP with Windows. The EU court ruled that by bundling WMP Microsoft was acting reducing the likelyhood of competition from Real Player, Win Amp, etc. Basically the EU ruled that WMP was not a key requirement for Windows (Microsoft’s reason for saying that they could not ship a working version of Windows without it), and that Microsoft only included WMP to create a monopoly on media players and reduce competition. After agruing for years that it could not produce a version of Windows without WMP, Microsoft was able to do so within a few weeks of losing the case. (Makes that argument about unbundling Internet Explorer a bit weaker doesn’t it Bill?) One of the key rulings in the case was that Microsoft’s “new version” of Windows could not infer to the public it was less funcitional or less usable. Microsoft’s solution - Reduced Media Edition - no the word reduced never infer’s less to anyone. The Redmond crew says decided not to fight this round, but they claim that the name would have held up against the restriction. My guess is they probably worried about increased fines, additional restrictions, and the likelyhood that a US court may pick on the issue of unbundling Internet Explorer again. In the end, Microsoft will come up with another name for this new version.

Link - Seattle Pi.com

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 4:30 pm and is filed under News, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.