In a bid to prevent Apple Computer from repeating its musical successes with the iPod and the iTunes Music Store in the realm of video, Microsoft is trying to head off Apple in Hollywood. The software giant is quietly striking alliances with key movie-industry companies to ensure that their digitally delivered movies are made available to consumers in Windows Media formats and not in Apple formats. This battle promises to be important: Microsoft owns the largest customer base, by far, and its Windows Media technologies are installed on hundreds of millions of PCs. But let's face it, Apple is much cooler, and its success with iTunes means that studios will have to deal with the company in some way
