Microsoft PlaysForSure

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Playsforsure logo
Playsforsure logo

Microsoft PlaysForSure was a certification given by

online music stores
and online video stores.

PlaysForSure was introduced in 2004.[1] In 2007, Microsoft rebranded and scaled back "PlaysForSure"[2] [3] into the subset Certified for Windows Vista.[4]

Microsoft's

Zune Marketplace, not PlaysForSure. The Zune and PlaysForSure music were both Certified for Windows Vista, yet the Zune could not play PlaysForSure music purchased from the MSN Music Store.[5]

Microsoft announced that as of August 31, 2008, PlaysForSure content from their retired MSN Music store would need to be licensed to play before this date[when?] or burned permanently to CD,[6] although this decision was later reversed.[7] With the exception of Windows Media Player, all of the PlaysForSure offerings were made or run by 3rd-party companies, while Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division developed and marketed the Zune.

Overview

There exist many tests to obtain PlaysForSure certification. The most commonly referenced requirements include the ability to play files encoded in

Cardea
(WMDRM-ND). However, other important requirements include time to synchronize a device with a PC, UI performance (time between pressing "play" and hearing music), gapless playback, and so on.

Content providers that offered PlaysForSure-certified content

Only audio content were ever offered by PlaysForSure content providers; although Microsoft provides a PlaysForSure certification for video content, as well as a variety of PlaysForSure-certified portable and network video players that could play PlaysForSure-certified video, if it were offered, no online store offered video content that would be certified to play on all PlaysForSure video players.

Hardware vendors that support PlaysForSure-certified media

Software that can stream media to PlaysForSure devices

  • Windows Media Player versions 10 and 11
  • SimpleCenter supports the media devices
    USB mass storage
    , and PlaysForSure certified devices".

Criticisms

A 2005 court case strongly criticised the wording of a Microsoft licensing agreement related to portable devices.[9] The license prohibited makers of portable devices compatible with Windows Media Player from using non-Microsoft audio encoding formats. Microsoft indicated that the wording of their license was poorly written due to an oversight by a junior Microsoft employee. Microsoft quickly amended their stringently worded license agreement at the judge's behest.

See also

References

  1. ^ Microsoft plans branding assault,
    CNET News
  2. ^ PlaysForSure Network Media Devices and Windows Vista (WinHEC 2007; 1.7 MB), Slide 13, Retrieved 2007-12-14 from Digital Media Devices and the Windows Logo Program: New Directions for PlaysForSure Testing.
  3. ^ PlaysForSure Portable Devices and Windows Vista (WinHEC 2007; 3.0 MB), Slide 32. Retrieved 2007-12-14 from Digital Media Devices and the Windows Logo Program: New Directions for PlaysForSure Testing.
  4. ^ PlaysForSure is growing up!. Retrieved 2007-12-14
  5. ^ "Technology | Zune problems for MSN customers". BBC News. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  6. ^ Hutchinson, Lee (2008-04-22). "Microsoft to Discontinue PlaysForSure Support". Arstechnica.com. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  7. ^ [1] Archived January 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Hutchinson, Lee (2008-06-30). "Rhapsody's DRM-free music store offers little to excite". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  9. ^ Judge blasts MS bid to monopolize music devices, The Register, 27 Oct, 2005. Accessed 22 Aug 2006.

External links

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