Microsoft rebrands PlaysForSure to Certified For Windows Vista, confuses world
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Dec 12th 2007 7:37AM
posted Dec 12th 2007 7:37AM
Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM just took another step closer to the grave with the help of some rebranding. Those of you with players from SanDisk, Nokia, and Creative among others, looking for compatible music from Napster, Real Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, Wal-Mart and such must now look for the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo, not PlaysForSure. Of course, Microsoft's Zune is also certified for Windows Vista, just not certified for Windows Vista so it won't play back the same protected files. Man, could DRM get any more consumer unfriendly?
[Thanks, Andrew]
[Thanks, Andrew]
Dumb.
DRM is the abbreviation of DRAMA
Or DHARMA...come back to me Lost!
Actually, it's "Digital Raining Money". Or so they want to believe.
More like Didn't Rain Money/Do Rabid Marketing
more like do loafing, or Franklin Delano loafing
"Certified for Windows Vista" just seems so bunk.. it's like a label they slap on anything to sell it. I've seen USB cables "Certified for Windows Vista" priced over non-certified ones.. monitors, headphones, keyboards, USB drives, modems, you name it, they'll put "Vista Certified" on it and up the price a bit.
"CERTIFIED FOR WINDOWS VISTA" is neccessary because Vista doesn't work well with a wide range of peripherals. My uncle for example bought an HP laptop pre-loaded with Windows XP. When he bought Vista Home Premium, Vista stopped the laptop from working with the built-in webcamera and the USB mouse, his Win TV and his USB race wheel.
Circuit City and Best Buy absolutely MUST push their products together because when lay consumers come to purchase a computer, they expect that everything will work right out of the box. If BBY or CC sold a USB product that''s been in the store for a long time, it is likely not to work with VISTA which thereby suggests any product they will sell should have the "VISTA CERTIFIED" logo.
By the way, When ZUNE was first released, it didn't work with "Plays for Sure" until the patches came later.
@Flashpoint
The Zune never supported PlaysForSure.
And also, there are such things called DRIVERS. They control peripherals in different OS environments. New OS, new drivers.
I don't many will be confused by this and if anything it provides a level of clarification. With "Certified for Windows Vista" the consumer knows this product will work with their new Vista PC.
So it will not work on XP?
Stop playing dumb. M$ uses every chance to remind people that there is Vista here. And uses its usual OEM channels for /free/ PR.
Do they want to confuse everybody about status of XP support? - of course, that's intentional.
M$ is driven by sales people. XP is sold already. XP is long passed to them. Now they are on selling Vista. Business as usual.
Wow, how to confuse everyone still using XP and Napster happily...
This is great. It's just another nail in DRMs coffin. Bring it down!
when will they realise that their marketing department is a big turd?
Maybe about the time that they realize that the Zune, Windows Vista, and DRM in general are also all giant steaming turds in their own right?
Who uses PlayForShyte nowadays? Isn't that stuff long dead and gone? Just have everyone move to iTunes and following the bouncing iPod.
It's just fine being lowest-ranked so knock yourself out, people. It's the only weak power you've got in this world.
Not to forget that WMP 11 can't even back up your licenses in case you need a reformat... Where's my limewire, I am in the mood for some "File Sharing".
As much as DRM totally blows... I wouldn't say that it's ALL of it that is confusing. It just seems that anything Microsoft touches that's DRM related becomes more and more confusing every week.
"CERTIFIED FOR WINDOWS VISTA..... (and nothing else)"
DRM needs to DIE
Another STUPID mistake by Microsoft which only loses more customers to iTunes.
Most of the time I own DRM protected content, I spend trying to figure out ways to break the DRM and use it unlawfully anyway.
"Man, could DRM get any more consumer unfriendly?"
Yes, yes it will.
Hmm, you know, my cheep noname MP3 player from fry's isnt play for sure or whatever its called, so the songs i had bought wouldnt work on it. when DRM forces customers to use another service that supports the device, or worse, pirate the songs, you know its gone too far.
i doubt many people will make the jump to itunes, it only offically supports ipods, and you gotta use WMP to transer the songs. I see more people making the jump to something like bittorrent or something else that supports a wider range of devices.
Remind me again how Apple doesn't care about its customers.
Seems to me, Microsoft Windows Vista is about as successful as Windows ME, and Microsoft is trying to brand anything it can to support adoption of Vista.
Let me help out the Apple-bashing Microsoft lovers: Redmond=dreary, Cupertino=sunny. Don't get me wrong. I love the Northwest. I used to live there. And I can assure you, the weather can affect people's moods. Depressed software architects result in crappy designs. What can I say? Microsoft should relocate and embrace a Unix-based kernel. :-)
All software architects are depressed.
Embracing a *nix kernel means Microsoft would have to start competing fairly. That's not going to happen any time soon.
Microsoft loves all of its customers. That's how M$ became the most powerful software company in the world. Their great generosity to the little user paid off. PFS for Vista will go down in history of being one of the finest DRMs ever created for the masses just as Vista is.
What's confusing about PFS? It's as simple as choosing which Vista to use.
There's only about six versions of Vista. Far less than ice cream flavors at your local supermarket.
Dammit! Vista and Zunes are poised to take over the world if people would just shut the eff up. Peripheral drivers are nothing. Just buy the peripherals that work with Vista. Just because Vista runs slower than WinXP it doesn't mean it sucks. Well maybe it does suck, but it's more secure. (Don't) GIVE UP ON VISTA!
Who the hell am I kidding? GET A MAC AND ITUNES, M$ FANBOYS. Lose the shyte and get the shizzle.
As for DRM, I'm putting my Transmission into overdrive. Long live BT.
Apple doesn't care about its customers, Gian, because they didn't issue a software update that gives the iPod 5.5G a touchscreen.
Vista is as successful as ME? What the hell are you smoking?
Redmond kicks ass, not sure where you went
Whoda thunk Microsoft had so many feet they could shoot themselves in?
6-ish generations of iPods and Apple's music DRM still works and hasn't changed to impact the user one whit.
I have an easy solution, go out and buy a physical CD and rip it at lossless or 320. Or buy from Amazon. Then you will have no problems because it is both Mac and PC compatible and will play on every portable device.
In other news, my Zune 80 arrived this week and I have been immersing myself in the world of Zune both software and hardware. This is where it's at. Both are great as far as I am concerned.
So as far as I am concerned go Microsoft! DRM is not something they have created so much as a world they live in as dictated by the turds over at the RIAA. I hope they spin off the Zune and gaming unit. Give Jay Allard more power and let him make shit cool.
I've found that the price of the CD has risen, but you also get better sound quality. Most DRM tunes I've found are only encoded in 128kbps, it's a shame. GO ZUNE! And, the Zune Marketplace has DRM-FREE tracks.
Just another reason, I am more than happy that all the music I have purchased is from Amazon, and is DRM free. I will let Microsoft and Apple play their games all they want and hopefully when the record labels learn that this DRM is costing them customers (and money) they will finally give up on this stupid endevour.
just use xp that's it
Just another way for MS to make you believe that you MUST get Vista, otherwise your music, and your new player, would not work. I can't stand the garbage MS comes out with at times. It's an MP3 file that has some DRM with it. There's no need to change the name of the DRM compatibility just because they want to shove down our throats an OS version people are not that interested in at the moment.
Micrsoft must be slowly trying to kill plays for sure and confusing the hell out of people along the way.
I think they should just combine all features of zune software and windows media player and then make the new windows media player that only syncs with zune
drop plays for sure from windows media player and make seperate program for plays for sure like first zune software. let mp3 player manufacturers include it and allow it to be downloaded on microsoft website. have plays for sure media player that syncs with plays for sure devices. and completely seperate plays for sure from windows media player
That's about as confusing as the name change.
¿QUE?
im saying why does micrsoft give there own product the crappy zune software and plays for sure gets the good windows media player software it should be the other way around.
give plays for sure the crappy software and the better software for the zune as a way to draw people away from the plays for sure to the zune, just let manufacturers make there own software that works with plays for sure
Certified for Vista is just the Kosher of computer products, adds to the price and means absolutely nothing.
I would have loved to be in the meeting where MSFT thought up the name change. I'll bet it was during an off-site meeting at a bar.
This is a good case study of how to further kill a product. XP seems as though it will continue to out sell Vista.
I agree, Microsoft is confusing the world. I bought a Zune and foolishly thought either Napster or URGE would work on it. I was an existing member of Napster, but subscribed to URGE simply because it was tied in to WMP11 and I assumed it would work on the ZUNE. Wrong. I'm stuck with Napster, cancelled URGE and subscribed to Zune Marketplace. Totally ridiculous.
I don't really see reason for all the fuss. This is Microsoft's attempt to give Vista wider brand recognition in the retail market for people who don't know better. It's no different than Apple branding everything they own. The potential for confusion is certainly no greater than that generated by all the different iPod versions and compatibility issues between various versions of the Mac operating system and Mac hardware. Apple users don't live in some shiny "all software works on all Macs" world despite what some people might lead others to believe. And iTunes, nice as it is, isn't free from DRM tyranny just yet. Yes options are becoming available, and workarounds abound, but that does not equal "DRM Free" yet. For now iTunes is no better in the DRM arena, and others are quickly taking up the slack. Amazon is becoming a very viable DRM-Free player with competitive costs.
Stupid users need brand/logo assurance. Smarter users look a bit deeper and fend for themselves. Microsoft already softened their initial stance on phasing out XP, but they have made a cmmitment, however half-assed, to branding Vista. Individual hardware vendors will no doubt label their products XP compatible as well so long as they remain so. They want sales, and they will aim for the wides tuser base.
thanks for saying that.
This is shortsighted. What happens when Vista is replaced by "Panorama" or whatever they call the next version. "Certified for Vista" goes straight out the window. Or do they plan on changing DRM technologies every 5 years also?
look up SUPER on google....any licenced and unlicenced song can be converted into ANY format and thus compatible with any mp3 player/cell phone/movie player for FREE
so then why are we paying for DRM'd music? (I'm not. I steal it.) Thats the whole point tho, we shouldn't have to covert the song to something else. It should be as simple as "here is your mp3....thanx for the 50 cents or whatever"
PlayForSure was a farce and a fraud to begin with. My dad's
eyesight is going so he was interested in Audio books from the
local library. Like most libraries in the US these days, his
local library uses NetLibrary (*cough*microsoft shill*cough*).
The instructions say that they can be used on any PlayForSure
certified player - great, just what he needs. He bought a
PlayForSure certified player (SanDisk, IIRC) and could not
get it to work. I looked into it and sure enough, the SanDisk
does not play the audiobook form. Yet it is certified!
So it was really MaybeItWillPlay-FeelLuckyPunk certified.
"The large print giveth, the small print taketh away"
- Tom Waits
Well, "Plays-for-Sure" was a pretty damn strange nomenclature to begin with...
Yes, but at least you knew what it was referring to. "Certified for Windows Vista" doesn't tell you a damned thing. How do they expect people to associate that with playing protected media files?
Stop buying C.R.A.P.
There is no defending Microsoft here. They are so far gone at this point, it's almost comical. And I'm not even comparing them to any other company - they've stepped beyond the realm of comparison with how far out of touch their consumer marketing is with consumers.
And I think that there should be some sort of lawsuit out there that keeps USB cables priced under $10. But then again, if you're stupid enough to pay $25 for a USB cable at Staples, I have some Windows Vista-certified avocados I'd like to sell you.
This reminds me of when stores would brand DVDs as "PS2 compatible!!" when that was a given for any DVD.
To brand hardware "Compatible for Windows Vista" is one thing, because that says it's ready out of the box, without needing to go to extra effort to get updated drivers and such. Branding a data file like that is just stupid.
Do I need my .txt files to be certified for windows vista? No. Way to go.
I'm all for purchasing a CD or digitally getting it from Amazon, or going gray market if need be.
Microsoft likes getting spanked by Apple. If not, they better learn to like it, because they keep positioning themselves to provide a better target.
I'm a happy subscription music user. It's a great option if you like to explore lots of new music (if you don't it's not). However, Microsoft hasn't been successful promoting it, and this is another bad move. Although I’ve spent hundreds of dollars happily renting music for years, I’ve never purchased DRMed music and never will.
Forking PlaysforSure into Zune was a bad and disturbing move, but it didn't really affect me directly. Changing it to "Certified for Windows Vista" is so boneheaded--it’s hard to see it surviving much longer. I think I should start looking for alternatives.
The Redmond Reality Distortion Field (RRDF) apparently allows them to convince one another that Vista will soon be ubiquitous. They should prepare for and encourage this by giving Vista more visibility; co-branding all those Zunes and music they’ll soon be selling, even forcing music partners to use Vista branding (‘till they’re extinguished by Zune). Its crazy; and they don’t appear to be coming up for air anytime soon.
What's really sad about this is the effect it's had on people like Creative. There was a time when Creative made some fine PMPs But they got sucked in by MS and they forgot that they make hardware and thought they were part of a music ecosystem. So instead of making devices that worked with plain old USB mass storage they had to first invent their own sync protocol and then shift to Microsoft's only to now find they're being left out in the cold again as their former partner tries to compete with them.
Meanwhile Apple have been playing the exact same game tieing their player to their software and every so often changing all the rules to make it awkward for 3rd parties to support. And all of this is in the name of corporate greed either from the brain dead and dying music industry or from the arrogant computer industry.
And it's the consumer who loses out from this persistent deliberately defective design.
Just Say No To DRM. m'kay?
is the Zune certified for vista .... LOL ...must ask it to a microsucks representative !
Ha to whoever said Zunes are poised to take over the world! Never. I own an iPod nano first generation. I love it. Zunes are so ugly. On the Vista subject, it is annoying how MS is attacking you with how if you don't go out and buy Vista right now, your computer will explode. I run XP, enough said.
And they still ask why the hell do people download free-DRM music from p2p's (ilegally)