Sunday, 14 July 2013
Microsoft aims to counter iTunes '
dominance. The interface has been beefed-
up, usability has been enhanced and
Microsoft has worked at turning its flagship
media application into a full multimedia
center, linked to online stores and compatible
with mobile devices.
Improved interface
The first thing that will strike you when you
start up Windows Media Player 11, is the
complete revamp of the interface. No more
deep blue, the whole application is now dark
and shiny and you can customize it by
selecting a hue of your choice. Windows
Media Player's left side is a drop down pane
for your library, the center displays your lists
and the right side is used to create playlists
which you can rip, burn or sync with a
mobile device.
Compared to Windows Media Player 10, we
feel that Microsoft has actually made an
effort to simplify the interface and give you
more ways to browse through your media
list, whether by using the drop down menu or
the quick rollout line on the top left. The
'play' and 'previous' and 'next' buttons are
now nested at the bottom of the interface and
have a jazzy glow whenever you roll over
them. Microsoft has finally succeeded in
integrating a good search function into its
Windows Media Player interface. As you type
the name of an artist or title the application
will bring up the results in the main window.
Windows Media Player 11 makes all your
media more accessible. Double click the
Media Library button to browse from your
music to pictures, movie files and recorded
TV. The thumbnail view is a great way to
quickly scan through pictures and videos and
to include the album image to audio tracks.
By clicking the "Media information changes"
option under the Library button you can also
scan your PC to automatically find new
media files. Creating a playlist is a case of
drag and drop and oddly enough you can
integrate audio, video and pictures. Burning
and ripping in Windows Media Player is also
very simple, yet disappointingly converting is
limited to WMA, WAV or MP3.
Easy to use
The sync process is promising yet remains a
bit unstable. While it's very easy to create a
list and sync media, Windows Media Player
can occasionally crash or fail to load your
mobile device, even if you press the refresh
button. When we tested it with a Pocket PC,
we had to restart Windows Media Player 11
so that it would recognize it and let us sync
our music. As soon as the device became
accessible though, it also became visible on
the left sided menu, making it very easy to
browse through it for music or pictures.
A big improvement
Windows Media Player 11 is a huge
improvement from version 10. The whole
interface is snazzier and makes browsing
through your media simpler. Microsoft has
also made creating playlists, syncing, burning
or ripping just a case of drag-and-drop.
Windows Media Player lets you check out
music on dozens of online stores and is
loaded with small features to customize your
interface and change how you interact with
your media.
Conclusion
While the syncing process still remains a bit
unstable and we lament the lack of podcast
feed support, Windows Media Player 11 is a
solid competitor to Apple's iTunes.
Language: English
File size: 24.6 MB
Date: September 5, 2012
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
| More programs (53)
Downloads: 5,638,308
O.S.: Windows XP,
Windows Vista
Category: Players > Multimedia
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