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New Windows Media Player Leaks
TacoLL writes "A new version of Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player 11, is set to be made public on Wednesday, however, it has found its way into the hands of internet users before its public release. Flexbeta has some early screenshots of the next Media Player for Windows users."
In the news today: Somone built an early release of KDE by hacking into their publically available anonymous SVN repository and downloading the code. They then released screen snapshots to the Internet. We now turn to our live reporter in bit-land with this breathtaking story...
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I have a PIII running Windows 98SE with Windows Media Player 9 - it is very slow to load. Most of the time that I open Windows Media Player, it is to watch a quick video clip - for this, I don't need the whole music guide and library to load. It would be nice if Microsoft would make two separate players - one to quickly play short clips, and one to manage my library.
On my Linux machine (also a PIII) I use MPlayer, which can play almost any type of file and is much faster. If I want to manage my music library, I'll open up amaroK or something similar.
What about Windows Media Encoder 11. I would love to use 10, but it blows at trying to encode VOB files. Using a popular format with surround sound support would be awsome.
:(
I know it's blasphemy to hype up Microsoft, but their WMV format is really good. In fact, right up there with DivX. Just wish their next Encoder appliaction didn't suck so much ass
Life is not for the lazy.
Open Exe, WGA stops me.
.INFs, and WGA is bypassed entirely.
Unzip, run the seperate hotfix-style executables, right-click-install on a few
Way to go, Microsoft.
~The TwoTailedFox posts again....
It's definately a visually nice ugprade from WM 10, and it does look better than iTunes in some ways on my PCs, but it definately does not look better than iTunes on my Macs, which use their GPU to render true 32-bit windows with crystal-clear anti-aliased fonts. The Mac version of iTunes also has a very tiny footprint in memory for what it does, and uses virtually no CPU time to playback my Apple Lossless music; Less than 4% on average. True OS level integration with OS X makes it a completely different app than what it is on my PC. Just to clarify, it runs good on my PCs, but it runs great on my Macs. It runs better on my 3.5 year old PB, than it does on my newer and much faster Athlons.
;)
I'm into the black glossy look they used with WM 11, I actually just worked on a site design that used a similar treatment, but the buttoms are obnoxious in size and the fonts look bad. The non-aliased window and Window's close/minimise/maximise buttons also bring down its appearance in my book. And MS can thank Apple for glass/glossy look, not for coming up with it, but definately paving the road for its widespread implementation. Apple actually toned down their use of it with OS X 10.3. They relized that it was distracting for us pro-art-peeps, so minimalized its use.
Anway, I'll need ot download and try it out, but I can already tell that it doesn't look remotely as intuitive as iTunes, which is way more important than a purdey interface.
<]=)
mplayer2.exe is actually Windows Media Player 6.4 if you take the time to check out the About dialog box.
If you like that however, you should definitely check out "mplayer2's" open-source clone, Media Player Classic, a full featured Media Player.
If you'd have read the screenshot descriptions (here & here) you'd notice that you can search instantly by keyword/title. I'm very excited about this new WMP. MS says (we'll see if they can deliver) that they've improved it so it can handle large collections. The current WMP can't handle my 10,000+ music archives well, so instantaneous search across 30,000+ songs is pretty exciting stuff.
I have a huge problem with windows media player. Microsoft does not support a good step through frame commend, reverse playback, or quicktime like encoding features with export/import of frame sequences etc.
I always use Windows Media Player Classic because it does so much more than the media player when it comes to playback control and it works better overall, and has a better interface.
Microsoft is trying to make it into itunes, rather than turning it into a real media player. It is a one big button ui. Any advanced video control functionality is either missing or hidden (i cant find them)
They may have a pretty skin, but the player itself always falls short of being a real video player.
They want to be itunes, and not a real video player for all who need it. Apple does it far better with quicktime on the Mac, and their PC version while not as good as the mac version is still useable for content creators/video editors.
The Microsoft Media Player on the other hand is a toy, thats chasing Itunes.
My music is already in Itunes Microsoft... If the media player 11 interfaces with my Ipod i'll maybe consider it, until then... i dont really care about the itunes like features.
Microsoft has always been late to the party, and they do this weasel like catch up strategy, that never satisfies...
WMP 11 is just another Microsoft mess. Get it right or get rid of it. Its fucking version 11 already.... How many versions do you need before you add real video playback controls?
Your hopes are not in vain. Just read any review of M$ AdCenter or Vista (train wreck ... not compelling to human beings). The slow down is not gradual, it's instant, and the damn thing might not work at all.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
What planet do you live on? There's lot's excitement for people who discover GNU/Linux. Expectations are typically low, thanks to massive FUD campaigns. A by product of that FUD is an air of the dangerous and new that's irresistible to many. Those that bother to try and stick with it long enough to overcome the bad habits of commercial software are amply rewarded. In the end, they find the joy of free software, which continues to grow. Browsing software repositories is like walking through a candy store where everything is free and the candy only gets better as time goes on. New programs make it feel like Christmas all year long. What does the five year and counting M$ train wreck release cycle have to match that? Zip, zero, zilch, hype, FUD and other hot air.
Most of the people I know have barely heard of free software and are heavily FUDed about it. They have this strange notion that it's hard to use and won't work with their hardware. Some even confuse it with copyright violation and think it's somehow tainted and immoral. Big players, like IBM, Lowes, Chrysler, etc, have helped to alleviate the "rebel" image but the FUD still stick because the big dumb vendors like Dell still don't offer a GNU/Linux desktop machines for end users.
Anyone who's used a GNU/Linux system for any length of time knows the FUD for the BS but the discovery never ends. Media players are a prime example. I've been using free software since Red Hat 5.x in 1998 and I've watched a steady and constant improvement. Back then, things were so nasty I did not even bother with sound. Then came vorbis, sox, autoconfiguration, ALSA, xine and suddenly audio is easy. Today, you can get live CDs that run Amarok, which has to be one of the finest media players available. Amarok excels as a media player as Konqueror and Firefox excel as browsers. Everywhere you look at a GNU/Linux system you see more excellence. The product is greater than the sum of the parts and M$ can't keep up to save their life. Hell, they are finally getting a browser with tabs and a multiple desktop GUI, but it's so bloated and top heavy with, virus checking and DRM it won't even work.
The final, unmatchable and exciting discovery is how free software really works. Far from being evil, free software is morally superior. No free software project has ever sued a public school for copying a text editor and none ever will misuse the government and laws in such a hideous way. What Microsoft dissmisses as "Communism" is actually co-operative capitalism and free market innovation at it's finest. Getting something for nothing and finding out that's the way it should have been all along feels great. The lies and harm M$ heaps on free software all backfire and the user is left with an unshakable commitment to their own software freedom.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.