Windows Media Player 11 Released

filenavigator writes "Microsoft issued a press release today publicizing the release of Windows Media Player 11. Looks like the major updates in this version are for the Microsoft marketing engine. Features boasted by Microsoft include better integration with media players sanctioned by them, and integration with their new URGE music service. Additionally, and more importantly, this version contains the latest in Microsoft DRM software. Interested parties can download a free copy"

Can't we wait?

[mingot]

Hey, can we wait until the comments before the anti-MS vitrol and fud? Does it have to start right in the article itself? Sheesh.

Get it for codecs

[GFree]

I might install it just to keep things up-to-date with the WMV support. I use Media Player Classic and VLC for most videos anyway, but I still installed previous versions of WMP so that the codecs it installed were complete, and I assume this will have newer codec versions too.

In other words, it's a back-end update for me. It sure as shit doesn't have the functionality/ease of use that something like MPC has.

Winamp? Hello?

[NineNine]

Sorry, but I think that the PC media player was perfected win Winamp 2.8. Literally. I think it's about as easy to use and powerful as you can ever get. iTunes is impossibly bloated and buggy. Windows Media Player is the most confusing interface I could ever imagine. Winamp is tiny, very powerful (if you want it to be), and *very* easy to use. I don't care how many shiny buttons MS MP and ITunes add, they both just get continueally worse with every version (and admittedly, so did the early Winamp 5.x versions). And really, how many different possible ways do you need to play music? How many iterations of "play" ans "stop" can there possibly be?

Re:Still nothing comparable to MPEG-1?

[Overly Critical Guy]

MPEG-4 is just as standard and cross-platform as MPEG-1 was. Blame Microsoft for not supporting it because they want you to use the hilarious "WMV" format for everything.

Re:Can't we wait?

[Dahamma]

Yeah, it's amazing. Everyone raves about iPod/iTunes but WMP is EVIL!!

better integration with media players sanctioned by them

iPod vs 100+ WMA devices...

integration with their new URGE music service

iTunes Store vs URGE...

more importantly, this version contains the latest in Microsoft DRM software

Fairplay vs WMDRM... one is supported on dozens of devices, the other on 2 (oh, don't forget the crippled Razr, 3!)

Hey, I have an iPod, but why shouldn't Microsoft be able to add the same "features" Apple has to their media player? (they do that with so many other parts of their OS ;)

Re:.ogg anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Google for the 'oggds' codec.

DON'T Get it for codecs

[RareButSeriousSideEf]

Not only should you not get WMP11 intentionally, the fact that there's a RTM for it should make you think about turning off Windows Update (if you haven't already). At least make sure you have a disk-image backup before installing it, or you'll probably be kicking yourself down the road.

From http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/play er/11/readme.aspx [microsoft.com]:
"Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)."
"Digital media files must be in stored in monitored folders for media sharing to work properly in Windows Media Player 11."
"Content that is protected with media usage rights cannot be played in Windows Media Player 10 if a computer already has the Windows Media Format 11 Runtime installed."

The following issue from the Beta release isn't mentioned in the official release notes, but the fact that it appeared in the beta indicates that MS was preparing their DRM platform for a new time-limit "feature" that can be applied to recorded TV on their Media Center products (at the request of broadcasters, of course):
"Recorded TV shows that are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this time."

At time of posting, this could still be found at:
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:Eah4zybQy4sJ:w ww.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/re adme.aspx [72.14.203.104]

I'm not pulling that speculation out of my butt, either. They already add more restrictions to DVD playback than any other software or consumer DVD player does. DVD playback is prohibitied in Media Center Edition when your display device is set to > 640 x 480 resolution (as is the case for HDTV use):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894323 [microsoft.com]

Even today, as of Rollup 2, Media Center Edition renders recorded TV unplayable after two weeks when the broadcaster requests it:
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID= 49&PostID=144193 [thegreenbutton.com]

I would be extremely surprised if down the road a bit we don't discover that WMP11 is a trojan horse for a slew of previously unheard of content restrictions.

By day I'm a developer on the Microsoft platform. By night I'm an XP Media Center Edition user who's scared & angry enough to invest research time I don't have into MythTV & [Ubuntu || Mandriva || Fedora]. As far as home usage goes, I'm sorry, but this former Redmond fanboy / apologist is done with MS.

Re:Controls as bad as WMP 10?

[jZnat]

In that case, MPlayer takes the cake with its usage of right/left arrows, up/down arrows, and page up/down for skipping 10 seconds, 1 minute (or something like that), and 10 minutes respectively.

Re:Can't we wait?

[Tim C]

It's not what's said, it's how it's said. The same could be said for iTunes, which only integrates with iPods, only integrates with iTMS, also supports DRM (and one that Apple has so far refused to licence to anyone else, I might add), and can be downloaded for free.

You'd never see it said that way, however. The whole tone of the submission is anti-WMP and anti-MS, in stark contrast to how a new version of iTunes would be reported.

Just because something is true doesn't mean it isn't FUD; it's all in the delivery.

Re:Can't we wait?

[Tim C]

So the article is also FUD; my point still stands. Slashdot wouldn't post a description of iTunes like this, and if a similarly-worded article was posted, the summary wouldn't be written like that.

It's still FUD, even if it is a quote and directed at someone/something we all hate.

Re:Can't we wait?

[jacksonj04]

Yep, it can do. WMP10 could as well. And guess what?

It's disabled by default.

Vanilla WMP11 rips to WMA format, but doesn't encode DRM into it. You have an option to do so, or an option to encode straight to MP3. Tools -> Options -> Rip Music

Re:Can't we wait?

[KDR_11k]

VLC crashes every five minutes for me when it's running at full screen so I believe even MS could build something better than that. It also tends to display all subtitles in the same spot regardless of whether there's already one drawn there which means they are completely unreadable whenever two subtitles are shown at the same time (and pausing doesn't keep the subtitles in place, they still disappear after their displaying time, no matter whether the video is running). If it wasn't the only player I know of that can handle subtitles in the MKV format I wouldn't have it installed but unfortunately it's necessary for that and MKV is gaining ground.