Agreed! This is not vaporware.

Isn't Akimbo out of business? Wikipedia thinks so. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akimbo_(on-demand_service)

I disagree with your statement because you've missed the friggin' point. We're not talking about the "*nix world." We're talking about a mixed environment. We teach *nix how to new things everyday. Why not teach it to handle basic instructions that it receives from a domain controller if the administrator joined it to a Windows domain?

Slashdot has gone to hell. Ask yourself this question. Am I really familiar with MS Active Directory and Group Policy management, as well as Unix administration, to the point where I can make a recommendation on how to maintain a network of Unix/Linux computers using AD and Group Policy (or equivalents)? If not, why are you making suggestions or claiming that the OP is doing something wrong? The OP and a few other posters get it and the rest of you don't and are making asses out of yourselves. Group policy is extremely useful. Here is the super short description. Group Policy is like DHCP, but for user and computer settings. Meaning, when a user logs on, all of these settings that are appropriate for him and his computer (which are a part of an organization) automatically happen. No configuration of that user's computer is necessary other than "joining it to the domain." The next day or next week or next year when a change is needed, it can be made in Group Policy and it is a done deal. Administrators who are used to this method of management probably like it and are unlikely to change away from it. It would increase adoption of Linux if we could provide most of the functionality of AD and GP on Linux on the server side and the client side. Samba 4 will be a big step in that direction. But what about the client side? A lot of the Group Policy objects could be just as useful in administering Linux workstations, servers, and users and groups that are members of a "domain."

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/mozilla-goes-to.html

Patents on formats, codecs, and streaming methods are the issues with those, I believe. Even if the end user has the proper software, I'm not sure about the content creator or distributor being confident that they won't get sued by someone. I'm not positive that these legal worries are real, but I've heard them repeated over and over again. A patent unencumbered open standard for online video and audio stuff would be huge. At least for stuff distributed over the web, the web browser would seem to be a good way to distribute the player software and codecs. Just my thoughts.