So not only did Real release version 10 of their media player today, but they also unveiled their music store to compete with BuyMusic.com, Apple, Napster, etc. Now, there's a reason I don't have Real player installed on my system - even though, while surfing across the 'net, I do find clips in .ra or .ram format that I'd like to view, it will not be installed. The reason behind my decision is that, quite simply, Real is crap. Their program sucks up system resources, it automatically installs itself everywhere you don't want it to be, puts itself in your system tray, and automatically opts you in to various options you don't want (though version 10 is opt-in rather than opt-out).

So now, they've got this giant piece of software crap that just infects your system and they think you now want to download music in a proprietary format that can only be played on their player? I'm not quite sure how iTunes works, but I think they're the same way as well - but at least the iTunes player is free and you don't have to sign up for some "Super Pass" to access all the features. And then there's Napster, Walmart.com and BuyMusic.com, which feature song downloads that can be played across media players, portable MP3 players and a few other computers. So, I'm just trying to figure this out - why would you download Real? To view a very few videos or listen to a couple .ra sound clips? And then, why would you download music for Real Player that can only be played through Real? It just doesn't make sense...but then again, I've always hated Real, so I might be a bit biased. But, their software has always sucked.

URL: RealOne SuperPass - premium audio and video programming - Real.com