Microsoft Taking On JPEG
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I gotta say, even if the format was terrible, I'm delighted to see Microsoft do this. There is no conceivable reason image compression should stay the same, no more than video or audio codecs should. Microsoft pushing a new format invites development and improvement, and hopefully everyone will win in the end.
Here's what I want to know: Are we going to get Windows Media Photo for Web? Right now, for websites concerned with bandwidth, there's a lot of improvement needed for browser-served images. I'd like Microsoft to optimize the lower end of the codec for web pages, saving every possible bit, and doing a much better job than JPEG/GIF/PNG are doing. Just look at how poorly modern image compression handles Windows Vista screenshots, and you'll see what I mean.
And if Microsoft is smart, it'll realize that owning a popular media format is more important than making money off of it, since adoption of Windows Media Photo will likely help calm people who are psychologically averse to using Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video files. Give away a lifetime non-commercial license of WM Photo for free to Apple and Adobe, please!
(via Del.icio.us | Yahoo! My Web | Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog.
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