Sunday, January 15, 2006

Q I can't watch videos posted on MSNBC in Firefox, because the site keeps telling me that I need to run Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player. Why can't these files play in my own browser?

AMSNBC made that impossible when it adopted Microsoft's MSN Video software, which requires that you run IE for Windows and accept the installation of an ActiveX program from MSN's site. To drive away 10 to 15 percent of the potential audience like that is a foolish thing for any news site to do, but MSNBC (with which The Post shares some news stories) seems to have decided that promoting the proprietary software of one of its owners matters more.

Don't expect this to change just yet. MNSBC spokeswoman Anne Keegan said the site was aware of the browser compatibility issue but didn't "anticipate any changes for the near future." MSN spokeswoman Amber Roberts, meanwhile, said the site was "closely evaluating additional support for other browsers in the near future" but did not reveal any specific plans.

You, the user, have a simple response: If MSNBC doesn't want your viewership, oblige it in its wishes. Get your news elsewhere until this site stops trying to choose your software for you.

I'm considering buying a smartphone running Windows Mobile. Will it be as susceptible to viruses as desktop Windows operating systems?

Windows Mobile can't run programs written for regular Windows, viruses included. And this handheld operating system has also been almost completely immune from viruses developed to attack it in particular: I could only find reports of one, an experiment that surfaced last summer and never went anywhere.

That record actually beats that of the Palm OS, which was attacked by a handful of viruses in the summer of 2000.

--Rob Pegoraro

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 orrob@twp.com.