{"id":5884,"date":"2012-05-05T15:20:44","date_gmt":"2012-05-05T15:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/butcherbaker.net\/wordpress\/?p=5884"},"modified":"2021-03-08T11:50:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T19:50:32","slug":"microsoft-decides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/butcherbaker\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/05\/microsoft-decides\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Decides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last November, I speculated as to which, if any, eBook format <\/a> Microsoft would support in Windows 8 tablets.<\/p>\n

[Mistakenly, I also ranked Windows Media Center as “more central” to Microsoft’s media consumption story. What? It’s just one piece of the puzzle. Anyway. Always willing to admit mistakes.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And now it looks like we have our answer. A $1.7 billion <\/a>answer, by the way. Call it the Nook<\/a>. From Barnes & Noble<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Microsoft agreed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Barnes & Noble\u2019s Nook division on Monday, giving the bookstore chain stronger footing in the hotly contested electronic book market and creating an alliance that could intensify the fight over the future of digital reading.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ePub<\/a> is now the official winner in the eBook format wars. Why do I say that? It’s the eBook format supported by nearly everyone. Apple. Sony. Adobe. Kobo Reader. Blackberry Playbook. Everyone except Amazon, which uses a proprietary variant of the Mobi format; to be kind, they also support a command-line ePub converter called KindleGen. Woo woo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Oh wait… I’m missing something… Amazon owns 60%<\/a> of the eBook market. And the U.S. Department of Justice apparently wants to help them get back to 90%<\/a>. Winner: Mobi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At any rate, here’s what Microsoft has decided:<\/p>\n