I'm not a big fan of Microsoft, but I thought this was newsworthy. They've engineered a new photography format called HD Photo / JPEG XR, and it looks like it's getting some serious consideration to be approved as the successor to the good old jpg / jpeg format. Technically, it looks great. Microsoft has spent a lot of time and money developing this, so it only makes sense that they have a plan to make their money back somehow. Fine by me if they're doing something like creating additional software which will work with this new format, but I want the format itself to be open and have no restrictions or conditions whatsoever. If so, then I'd be all for it. I'd be happy to see this new format embedded in all cameras in the future.
But if there is a catch, such as you must have the Windows operating system to view & edit these, or Microsoft software (for a price) has to be embedded into cameras to take these type of photos, then I'm certainly against it. I don't want photography going the way of betamax & VHS, or Blu-ray & HD. The article does say that Microsoft "will offer a royalty free grant for its patents", but what exactly does that mean? Is there some wiggle room for some wouldn't-you-know-it conditions? I don't know. But I'll be interested to see how this works out.
