Microsoft: Thanks, Google, we'll have your media codec for Edge

Re: Goody

OOXML is open. It's still shit but it is open. Office 2016 for Windows will even let you set the strict version of the specification as the default for saving files. Not that this will do you much good as this is the least interoperable version! Still, as long as Microsoft continue to publish the schema for their extensions the world will continue to turn.

Re: Yes

It is only going to be royalty free so long as it is a niche thing hardly anyone actually uses. If its use becomes widespread, it will no longer be royalty free once some patent holders (real companies and trolls) come out of the woodwork. Google can attempt to design it to not infringe on patents they know about, but between the sheer volume of patents and the difficulty of searching them, and the lengthy delays in the filing process (at least in the US) there are many patents they don't know about.

Personally I don't think it is remotely possible to create a patent-free video codec. Its just that no one bothers trying to collect royalties until there is enough usage to make the court battle worthwhile.

Re: "other open source formats, including OGG, Opus, and Vorbis"

> Any mention on whether FLAC support is likely (if it isn't there already; I'm not a Windows user so I don't follow such things)?

Windows 10 supports FLAC natively. It's also being phased in for W10 Mobile and XBox.

Re: SW decoding!!!

GPU will need specific hardware to decode VP9. Nvidia and AMD don't currently support it. In any case, what's terrible about the order that Microsoft choose to implement it? It's normal to do a software implementation first, isn't it?

MPEG-LA is a group of 31 businesses, and Microsoft is part of it.

So there will be no charging of MP4 licenses - at least, not for Microsoft.

The MP4 ship has already sailed. The battle is already on for the codecs suitable for 4k streaming (VP >= 9 vs. HEVC). Google is already a major player in the 4k market due to YouTube even if the majority of the content is currently wank (no pun intended!)

So support for the format will be required in any browser that expects to work well on YouTube.

Support for the WebP image format based on the VP8 would also be very welcome.

Re: All together now...

I know its difficult to accept, and there is a new world order of thinking...

Re: All together now...

I'd be prone to agree with this idea... Had it happens some 10-odd yeas ago under Ballmer stewardship. As things are now, I doubt MicroSoft are in any position to either pull it off, or do anything with it. MicroSoft have generally said how the future of Windows is going to look like. i.e. It has no future beyond WinX, and the fact that they're current embracing all things Linux at the moment. It's clear their only intention is to keep pushing O365, and Surface Slates.

I predict that unless they wake the hell up they'll be washed up in under 10 years time. But, then they still haven't worked out the Internet, or Mobile, and how to make these work for them. But, by the time that happens I suspect we'll calling them MicroTroll's as like the pulses of a dying star thats all that will remain of 'em is a dead husk of Patent Trolls.