Microsoft has finally stirred to life in the digital music arena.

Microsoft is usually a day late and a dollar short when it comes to innovation. But it brings so many OEMs and software developers to the party that it usually overwhelms its opponent. Microsoft was a half-decade or more behind Apple in GUI development during the 1980s, but today it has over 90% of the market, and Apple has about 3%.

We can argue the why of that later. Frankly, given the size of Microsoft Research I find it remarkable that the company finds itself in the same situation it did when Gates and Jobs (and I) were all so green together. The point is that Gates once again has Jobs in his sights, and the question is whether he will succeed in toppling the iPod.

Will he?

Why He Might -- Steve Jobs keeps making the same mistakes, maintaining proprietary technology, especially in the hardware field, in a proprietary way. Microsoft still has 90% of the desktops, it can overwhelm anyone with the sheer size of its marketing, and its stuff should come to market costing less than comparable Apple gear.

Why He Might Not -- Apple is no longer a manufacturer. It's an OEM. It can supply the demand for iPods in ways it couldn't back in the 1980s, when it was the sole source for early Macs. And Jobs has learned in 20 years, as have we all. Too late now may be just too late.

My Take -- At the suggestion of a friendly merchant I downloaded iTunes software for the PC. It's much better than the Windows equivalent. My PC spent several days transferring my music files to the Apple format. I also noted that, after installing iTunes, a new version of Windows Media Player refused to install until it was named my "default" player, and presumably given permission to change my music back to its format.

This is where the rubber really meets the road, not in the players but in the formats. The real news here may be how Real gets squeezed out. (I no longer play multimedia files on the BBC site because Real keeps demanding money for upgrades that seem like nothing and it's going to play the same "default" game as the other two, which I don't have time for.)

So, .AAC, .WMA, or .RAM? Right now it's in that order.