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Which comes first--Microsoft's much anticipated Windows XP operating system, or its new Windows Media Player 8?

To the chagrin of the software giant, and bemusement of its opponents, the winner appears to be the Media Player, which has apparently run away from a beta version of Windows XP. The Media Player is supposed to be tied to the operating system, but it's out on the Web, on the loose.

Well, sort of. According to Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan, someone extracted codes from a Windows XP beta version and is masquerading a thrown-together system as Media Player 8, although it lacks some of the core functions of the real Media Player.

Stand-Alone Raises Suspicions

The proliferation of the counterfeit Media Player, which has sprung up on various Web sites, has prompted Microsoft to threaten legal action against the software harborers. In turn, this spurs a greater question for Microsoft-watchers. By tying Media Player 8 to Windows XP, which is due for release in the second half of this year, is Microsoft following the same sort of bundling practices that got the software colossus into antitrust problems in the first place?

Yes, says Mike Pettit, executive director for ProComp, the Project to Promote Competition & Innovation in the Digital Age, a group founded by Microsoft competitors.

"This would violate the agreement they entered into in 1995 because they are conditioning the sale of one product with another," Pettit says. He's referring to a consent decree Microsoft signed in 1995, effectively agreeing not to bundle products. Accusations about Microsoft bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with Windows helped push the software giant into antitrust court initially.

Windows XP Required

Although Microsoft denies parenthood of the rogue Media Player, some of the company's detractors point to it as evidence that the software giant has bundled the player with Windows XP. Sources who have downloaded and tested the player note that some of its functions won't work without XP, such as its CD burning and DVD playback functions.

Pettit indicates that if Media Player 8 can't stand apart from Windows XP, it could mean Microsoft is again trying to block the competition.

"There's robust competition in media players, and what they decided to do is 'bolt' users into [Media Player]," Pettit says.

Microsoft's Cullinan rebuts that the Media Player has been part of Windows since 1991. Claims of bundling are an example of competitors trying to prevent the company from innovating and improving technologies, he says.

Pettit argues in return: "What we've learned from the Microsoft trial is that there is no reason why products can't stand alone and work seamlessly. It's a facade to put things together and tell the world they don't work as well apart."

Forrester Research Group Director of Research John McCarthy disagrees with Pettit, however.

"That's baloney," McCarthy says. "There isn't a company in the world that wouldn't try to stop people from ripping apart its beta version."

"Microsoft has enough power that there is the potential for antitrust, but people risk playing Chicken Little [with this accusation]," McCarthy says.

WindowsMedia.com Gets a Face Lift

Meanwhile, Microsoft has redesigned its WindowsMedia.com site, which offers links to content in the Windows Media audio and video formats. The updated site promises to be faster and easier to use, with an expanded lineup of content providers available through the site or via the Media Guide in Windows Media Player 7.

Added to WindowsMedia.com are five more guides to popular content including business, news, and sports; improved searching and page loading; and content from AudioBasket, Bloomberg News, CameraPlanet, Carsey-Werner eDistribution, EMI Christian Music Group, Guinness World Records, iNexTV, Interscope Records, PamTV.com, The ComedyLab, Universal Studios Home Video, VastVideo.com, and others.

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