July 16, 1998 Reader Survey Results

OS/2 users have often been spurned by large software vendors, even those who produce their client software products for free. While some companies (such as Netscape, Adobe and others) realize that for a client to become ubiquitous, it needs to be available to all computer users, others (such as RealNetworks) seem to feel that providing clients for the few, dominant platforms is "good enough".

We have heard comments on the subject of a native OS/2 RealAudio and/or RealVideo player ranging from, "give us one now!" to, "who cares? MP3 is the future." To find out how OS/2ers really feel about RealNetworks' products, in our last issue we asked for your opinions about "RealAudio Support for OS/2".

Answers to our survey were accepted from July 16th until July 29th. We had a total of 1,300 replies to our questionnaire with 117 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if all questions were not answered or if they were duplicates). This left 1,183 valid replies. The results were as follows:

Do you use a RealAudio Player in a Win-OS/2 session?

Originally there were instructions to run the RealAudio player v3.0 in a Win-OS/2 session, which worked (with some tinkering) for most people. However, newer versions of the RealAudio and RealVideo players were harder to make cohabitate with OS/2. Eventually some enterprising souls provided the magic instructions to make these newer versions of RealNetworks' players run in Win-OS/2 too.

Is all the hassle worth it? Not according to our readers. The majority of them (64.8%) do not currently use a RealAudio player in a Win-OS/2 session. However, the other group (the 35.1% that do use a RealAudio player under OS/2) are probably more significant. Given the fact that OS/2 is an unsupported platform and that there are some obstacles to getting RealAudio players working, it is a testament to RealAudio's popularity that more than one in every three OS/2ers has this software installed.

Do you want a native RealAudio or RealVideo player for OS/2?

Another testament to RealAudio's popularity is the overwhelming desire for a native OS/2 player. Nearly all our readers (89.8%) told us they want such a product. Maybe RealNetworks will take notice of this statistic and finally extend a little help to the OS/2 developers who have offered to work on the port.

Would you pay for a native RealAudio or RealVideo player for OS/2?

If RealNetworks did allow a native OS/2 client to be produced, the developer would probably find a market for the product. More than half of OS/2 users (56.6%) would actually pay for a RealAudio or RealVideo player. Possibly some extra value could be added to a native OS/2 port -- were one to be developed -- to make it more similar to the commercial versions on other platforms, and therefore worth paying for.

Do you prefer "open" formats such as streaming MP3 or commercial formats such as RealAudio and RealVideo?

Surprisingly, considering the great amount of desire for an OS/2 RealAudio player, our readers actually seem to disapprove of the RealAudio proprietary standard. Most of them (82.2%) said they would prefer an open standard streaming audio or video format, such as MPEG Layer 3 (MP3). Fortunately, players for the MP3 format exist for OS/2 now. Unfortunately, RealNetworks currently dominates the Internet so very few sites actually "broadcast" in the MP3 format.

That's it for this issue. Don't forget to fill out this issue's questionnaire and check back on August 1st for complete results.

Complete July 16, 1998 Survey Results

Do you use a RealAudio Player in a Win-OS/2 session?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes	415	35.1%
No	766	64.8%
I do not understand the question	2	0.2%
TOTAL	1,183	100.1%

Do you want a native RealAudio or RealVideo player for OS/2?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes	1,062	89.8%
No	51	4.3%
I am not sure	69	5.8%
I do not understand the question	1	0.1%
TOTAL	1,183	100.0%

Would you pay for a native RealAudio or RealVideo player for OS/2?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes	670	56.6%
No	234	19.8%
I am not sure	277	23.4%
I do not understand the question	2	0.2%
TOTAL	1,183	100.0%

Do you prefer "open" formats such as streaming MP3 or commercial formats such as RealAudio and RealVideo?

Category	Count	Percentage
I prefer open standards	973	82.2%
I prefer RealAudio and/or RealVideo	91	7.7%
I am not sure	110	9.3%
I do not understand the question	9	0.8%
TOTAL	1,183	100.0%