My Soft Line

Understanding Windows Media Player 11

Like Windows Media Player 10 (see my review), Windows Media Player 11 is an evolutionary WMP version that is accompanied by various new products and services, but not new versions of Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) codecs. I don't want to spend too much time here on the history of WMP, but suffice to say that Microsoft has worked to improve its all-in-one media player over the years and as we've moved from WMP 7, included with Windows Me in 2000, to the latest version, the company has done a decent job of matching the product's feature-set with the needs of the day. It should come as no surprise that WMP 11 is dramatically better than its predecessors in virtually every way.

Video and photo integration

Like WMP 10, WMP 11 works with photos and videos in addition to music. But WMP 11 hides the complexity of working with these three media types by hiding photos and videos by default (presumably because most people simply use WMP to work with music). To access the other media types, you click the new Categories button, which provides an entrance of sorts to a bread crumb trail, similar to Windows Vista's Windows Explorer Address Bar, that shows "where" you are in the media library hierarchy (Figure). In WMP 10, these other media types were simply available in the main Navigation Pane view, which cluttered things up quite a bit.

If you choose Pictures, Videos (or Recorded TV) from the Categories button, the media library and Navigation Pane views will switch to show options that are applicable to the chosen media type (Figure). Thanks to the new WMP 11 view styles, WMP is suddenly a decent way to manage digital photos, which certainly wasn't true in the past. On the other hand, there's no obvious way to trigger a photo slideshow with an accompanying music soundtrack. It seems like that'd be easy to add.

Problems with Windows Media Player 11

On that note, WMP 11 isn't perfect. It cannot sync with Apple's market leading iPod, which is sure to make it a non-starter for many users. There is no integrated podcast capability, as you get with iTunes, and though Microsoft had told me previously it was working on getting podcast functionality into the final version of WMP 11, it's nowhere to be seen. The WMA-based online music stores

to which you can connect with WMP 11 are many, but they're not as interesting to consumers as is iTunes and command only a tiny sliver of market share. Ditto with portable devices: Some of them are nice, but none are as good as the iPod, and all of them combined sell about 10 percent as well as does the iPod.

Availability

Windows Media Player 11 is now available for various 32-bit and 64-bit (x64) versions of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), including Windows XP Home with SP2, Pro with SP2, Tablet PC Edition 2005, or Media Center Edition 2005. See the download links on the right side of this page for more information.

A separate WMP 11 version will ship with

Windows Vista later this year. The Vista version of WMP 11 will include various unique new features that are not available in the XP version, including unique Aero-based chrome elements and the ability to view and playback media from other PCs and devices around the home using the WMP 11 Media Library. I'll examine these features in my eventual Windows Vista review.

Like previous WMP versions, Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP is free.

Conclusions

While I enjoy the Windows Media Player 11 look and feel, and appreciate the steady evolutionary improvements that Microsoft has made to this product, I feel that the software giant needs to face reality. Windows Media Player 11 lives in a world dominated by Apple's iTunes and iPod, and this product does nothing to embrace either of those de facto standards or offer customers compelling reasons why they should switch. Sure, WMP 11 is better than its predecessor. But its missing numerous necessary features, such as integrated support for podcasts and a decent tag editor. I won't be switching to WMP 11, and recommend that most users simply use iTunes, whether they have an iPod or not. On the other hand, WMP 11, like Internet Explorer (IE) 7 (see my review), is a solid offering and will likely be quite satisfactory for many, many people. If you're currently using an earlier WMP version, or a Windows Media-based portable player, you should upgrade to WMP 11 immediately. It's a nice improvement over its predecessors, albeit with one that continues to ignore Apple's market realities.