Wout meldt dat we bij ZD Net een interessant artikel kunnen vinden aangaande een mogelijke overeenkomst tussen Microsoft en America Online. Beide partijen zijn in gesprek over meeleveren van de AOL 6.0 client standaard bij Windows XP. Volgens het bericht is er al een team van AOL bij Microsoft op bezoek geweest om de integratie van de client soepel te laten verlopen. Probleem is overigens wel dat er nog maar 70MB beschikbaar is op de Windows XP CD, terwijl AOL zonder de Compuserve online service al minimaal 84MB nodig heeft:
The sources said the agreement stipulated that AOL was currently required to deliver AOL 6.0 for Windows XP, known as the Steppenwolf client, by mid-July. As such, it was sending a team of developers and other staff to the Redmond campus for several weeks to work on integration issues around the bundling, followed by another visit to test application compatibility.This was necessary to ensure that Steppenwolf met Microsoft’s internal deadlines and did not delay the official global launch of Windows XP on October 25.
[..] AOL and Microsoft are also discussing the possible integration of the Windows Media Player, but any agreement will have to comply with AOL’s current exclusivity agreement with RealNetworks around its RealPlayer, which ends in mid-July, while AOL has not ruled out making the Windows Media Player its exclusive player, it is concerned about supporting it on other platforms and in older versions of Windows that have not shipped with a compatible player, the sources said.
