The eternal struggle: Flash vs Windows Media

First, my bias: I go with Flash. The end. No, wait. LR pal and streaming media genius Dan Rayburn breaks down the differences between Windows Media and Flash video in a considerably more mature and fact-based article. Downsides to Flash: No live encoding, no DRM, no way to download the file to the desktop (without some sneaky programs you can find, anyway), doesn’t scale up too well. Downsides to WM: you need the plugin, it’s mean to Apple, Linux and other vociferous computer users, DRM haterz hatez it, Mo’Money to Redmond. Looking forward, Rayburn is right to frame the streaming debate in terms of WindowsMedia vs Flash. RealVideo is losing steam (more desk popups, please!), QT, despite Mac users unlimited love, will not be the standard. It’s WM vs Flash, and my money’s on Flash as it has been for several years. (This is where I would put the self congratulatory link to an archived story from the early ’00s where I predicted Flash as the next coming of video. Curse you, old platform!)