Windows Media Player 11

Article Published By Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP

Finally out of Beta trials - Microsoft's latest player is here!

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Microsoft Says...

Microsoft is highlighting the following as key features of Windows Media Player 11:

• A visually driven experience using thumbnail and album art, with customization capabilities for a more personalized interaction.

• Improved device experience with new shuffle sync and reverse sync options, device exploration using the library view, and help icons that ensure syncing and burning of rights-managed content.

• Simplified navigation capabilities, enhanced shortcut options, and dedicated category views for all media types, including music, photos and video.

• Better access to content with deep integration of services.

• Audio fingerprinting capabilities that recognize and import track information for unidentified or misnamed audio files.

• New formats for ripping and music playback, including Windows Media Audio Professional and WAV Lossless.

Fig 1.0 - The New WMP 11 Controls

My Experience...

I am someone who has allot of music and video content on his computer, maybe you are the same?

But accessing this content easily and quickly is a bit of a pain in Windows Media Player version 10 so I am really glad Microsoft have listened to the users and really improved version 11.

I can now search through several thousand music tracks VERY quickly in this latest version which makes my life easier!

In addition Microsoft have tweaked the layout to make common tasks easier to perform... and the new UI (User Interface) looks really cool. Probably the best looking media player on the marker place right now.

Microsoft claim over 200 media devices connect easily to WMP11, so I thought I would try the brand new iRiver Click device (I am really loving this 2Gb media player) as soon as I plugged it into my computer WMP 11 knew it was there and even displayed an image of the device when I went to "sync" my favourite music over to it.

Fig 1.1 - The New iRiver Click

I also tried my PDA, a DELL Axim X51v and a Creative MuVo (a much older MP3 player). Windows Media Player 11 had no problems in working with these devices... NO software or drivers to install.

Ripping my CD's just got better too with improved speed and wider formats to choose from!

Want the best media player experience? Then consider the new Windows Media Player 11 today.

(If you have one of the beta versions installed I recommend that you remove these first before installing the final public version.)

The new player can be downloaded here.

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