With all the bitching and moaning going on about Vista and DRM, it’s nice to see that Lifehacker has some good news for us. The updated version of Windows Movie Maker has the ability to edit video files that Vista’s Media Center components record… you know, without DRM. True, you’re probably not going to get at CableCARD content — But this new functionality actually makes at least a portion of Vista less restrictive than XP. So strip out your commercials, put some pretty menus and transitions in, then burn DVDs ’til the cows (or Leopards) come home.
While I haven’t spent much time in Vista (yet… more on that later), the XP version of Movie Maker isn’t bad. Most folks don’t seem to know of it, but for the cost of zero dollars it does a nice job with basic video editing. YouTube and others have no problem with WMV — as you can see via my Movibeam overview and Ladies of eBay compilation.
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It seems a little rude to dismiss legitimate issues with DRM eliminating our fair-use rights as "bitching and moaning." After all, they affect you just as much as the rest of us.
I'm not dismissing legitimate issues with DRM, I'm pointing out a phenomenon. I fully agree that DRM is a real issue now and going forward that impacts our rights (and our checkbooks) as consumers. However, I do not support some of Defective by Design's methods and I don't believe they have justified some recent claims.
This is not true, unfortunately. The latest version of WMM (6.0) for Vista does not support .dvr-ms files (gives unspecified error), even though it claims to. Microsoft has not been forthcoming with a patch, and doesn't seem to want to hear about the problem (no avenue for feedback without paying $$ for "support").