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RealPlayer 10 drops a stinker
It seems Real Networks just can't get it right as the company's latest media playback software fails to impress.
[blockquote]The extensive use of RealAudio and RealVideo formats in online broadcasting makes the player software unavoidable, but the company's relentless use of it to sell unrelated services and features has made this program little better than spyware in many users' eyes.
In some ways, the new RealPlayer 10 is the worst of all of Real's releases -- after years of complaints about the same problems, the company made only token efforts to address them. And the program's major new feature, an online music store, is an appalling mess.
The problems in RealPlayer start before you can even install it. (This is a beta-test release, available for Windows 98 (news - web sites) Second Edition and newer Microsoft operating systems, but since RealNetworks markets it as a finished product -- its home page neither mentions this test status nor offers earlier versions -- it's fair game for review.) Real continues to perplex users with "free" downloads that usually aren't.
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[link=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1804&e=4&u=/washpost/a24190_2004jan17]Read more[/link]
[blockquote]The extensive use of RealAudio and RealVideo formats in online broadcasting makes the player software unavoidable, but the company's relentless use of it to sell unrelated services and features has made this program little better than spyware in many users' eyes.
In some ways, the new RealPlayer 10 is the worst of all of Real's releases -- after years of complaints about the same problems, the company made only token efforts to address them. And the program's major new feature, an online music store, is an appalling mess.
The problems in RealPlayer start before you can even install it. (This is a beta-test release, available for Windows 98 (news - web sites) Second Edition and newer Microsoft operating systems, but since RealNetworks markets it as a finished product -- its home page neither mentions this test status nor offers earlier versions -- it's fair game for review.) Real continues to perplex users with "free" downloads that usually aren't.
[/blockquote]
[link=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1804&e=4&u=/washpost/a24190_2004jan17]Read more[/link]
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