Microsoft tops media player numbers
C|Net | at | by Mike
Nielsen/NetRatings this week began publishing media player statistics that use a new method of counting the most popular products for accessing video and audio on the Internet. The biggest winner in the change may be Microsoft: The software giant saw its Windows Media file format take the top spot in the at-work market for April 2002, a first for the company, which has been steadily closing on industry leader RealNetworks for several years. Apple Computer's long-trailing QuickTime format slipped slightly in total files counted, but those numbers wound up closer to its rivals because of the changes, as expected. At home, RealNetworks' RealMedia format continued to lead. But under the new methodology, the number of files in its tally dropped significantly compared to past reports.