There’s no doubt that Apple’s new music service is amazing and much needed in the industry. It’s easy to use, the price is right, the rights you’re granted for the music you download are many times more liberal than any other service introduced thus far. Except for, of course, the good old file-sharing system. But as Stevie J. pointed out in his pseudo-keynote on Monday, "It’s stealing."

For those of you who read last week’s column, in which I pleaded with Apple for certain concessions to the user in the service. I’m happy to report that the service, as introduced, exceeds the standards I set forth in every way.

But that’s not the end of the story. Battle lines have been forming for some time, and Apple’s release of its new music service is actually just a signal of another skirmish to come in the battle for your downloads.

It’s open standards vs. systems created and owned by single companies. Not surprisingly, Microsoft is on the short list of companies who would love to have everyone use their proprietary formats for downloading video and music. MS’s Windows Media standards are still used online by many music companies for their audio and video. As David Caulton, group product manager in Microsoft’s Windows Digital Media division, said in an article on CNET this week: "At this point we see all the momentum is behind us in this world."

Why? Simple. Microsoft is selling a digital rights management model (controls on how you can access the content you purchase or rent) that is not quite as liberal as what Apple introduce this week.

On the other side, you have the standards-based movement, which wishes to establish an open format that everyone can use, so a monopoly of one company doesn’t end up controlling what we download.

The format Apple is using in its new music service, AAC audio, is an open standard endorsed by the International Organization for Standardization. The same organization is behind the new video standard Apple has embraced: MPEG-4.

Those are the sides, and the battle is being fought on your desktop, even though you can’t see it. Up until the release of Apple’s service this week, Mac users have not had any access to a big online music service. And until Apple releases the store for Windows users, which Stevie J. said would happen by the end of the year, Windows users will not have had access to such a liberal DRM model — at least a legal one (See: Napster, Kazaa).

Which way will the battle go? I have no clue. An analyst quoted in that CNET article said he thought that there was enough leeriness of Microsfot among companies that it could end up forcing MS to follow into the standards-based world or be left behind and allow Windows Media to turn into the 21st-Century equivalent of the Betamax.

As Technology Business Research analyst Lindy Lesperance told CNET, "It’s common sense that entertainment industries are cautious about working with Microsoft. … Now more than ever they look at the long-term implications of making deals with Microsoft."

But the real verdict will be given by us — the users. If Apple’s music store ends up being extraordinarily successful, both the Mac and the Windows versions, then the record company executives will see that it is possible for everyone to be happy: the users, the distributors, the artists.

All without a dependence on Microsoft, and that would be an even bigger victory than Apple making a profit from the service.