Microsoft move could be the end of the JPEG

Microsoft’s HD Photo is taking aim at the JPEG format, a 15-year-old technology widely used in digital cameras and image applications. Microsoft is already supporting the new format in products such as its Vista and XP operating systems.

Microsoft Corp. will soon submit to an international standards organization a new photo format that offers higher-quality images with better compression, the company said today. Windows media photo, now renamed HD Photo is aiming to be top dog. The algorithym in HD Photo causes less damage during compression. What you get are higher qualities then jpeg at half the size! Microsoft is already supporting the format in the Vista and XP operating systems and Adobe is apparently with them as well. Adobe and Microsoft will release plug-ins for CS3 and CS2 versions of Photoshop for Vista, XP and Apple's OS X. Microsoft also has built an HD Photo Device Porting Kit so hardware manufacturers can support it. Basically it is going to happen. You can't fight it. It is smaller with less loss, so what can you argue with? It will take time to make it the new standard, but the wheels of tech are already rolling, an avalance coming soon and the pebbles do not get a vote. Better quality is always a good step ahead! Microsoft does it again.