Microsoft updates Windows Media Player

Zardon

MICROSOFT WILL RELEASE updated versions of its Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker software over the next two days as part of an announcement that includes revised licensing terms for its Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA 9) and Windows Media Video 9 (WMV 9) technologies.

Windows Media Player 9 Series, which will be available for download on Jan. 7 from 12:00 p.m. PST at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia, includes a Smart Jukebox feature that lets users manage a collection of up to 10,000 songs and speeds access to the audio and video library compared with previous versions of the software. It also can automatically create playlists and can update information about songs, including correct track, artist and album names, according to a Microsoft statement.

Windows Media Player 9 Series also offers support for Fast Streaming, which is included in Windows Media Services 9 Series in Windows .Net Server 2003. Fast Streaming offers instant-on/always-on streaming for broadband users, Microsoft said. In addition, Windows Media Player 9 Series offers better sound quality than previous versions of the software and supports 5.1-channel surround sound streamed across the Web at speeds of 128Kbps and 96kHz/24-bit audio fidelity, it said.

The latest version of the player also includes a Premium Services tab that lets users access music and video subscription services from providers such as CinemaNow, FullAudio, and pressplay, Microsoft said.

Windows Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP, which will be released on Jan. 8, includes a revised user interface, with improved time line and storyboard views, Microsoft said. It also supports the WMV 9 format which offers improved file compression of up to 50 percent over earlier versions and can store the equivalent of 15 one-hour DV (digital video) tapes in 10GB of hard drive space, it said.

Windows Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP also includes around 30 video effects, 60 video transitions and more than 40 titles and credits, Microsoft said.

Alongside the latest releases of Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft will also unveil revised licensing terms for its WMA 9 and WMV 9 codecs, which are used to convert analog sound and video to digital code and vice versa.

The revised licensing terms enable licensees to use WMA 9, which improves audio compression by up to 20 percent, and WMV 9 in a wider range of applications, including stand-alone hardware devices and computers running operating systems other than Windows. The Redmond, Wash., software maker has set licensing costs for WMA 9 and WMV 9 that make them cheaper to license than rival technologies, such as MPEG-4 and MPEG-2, it claimed.

For example, unit pricing for WMV 9 on devices and non-Windows computers is 10 cents per decoder, 20 cents per encoder and 25 cents for both encoder/decoder, Microsoft said. By comparison, licensing costs for each MPEG-4 video decoder, encoder and encoder/decoder licensing are 25 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents, respectively, it said.

In addition to updating its Windows Media Player and related technologies, Microsoft will also begin shipping its Plus Digital Media Edition for Windows XP. Hewlett-Packard is the first PC vendor to begin shipping the enhancement pack for Windows XP, which includes new features and tools for digital photography, digital music, and home video, Microsoft said.

Plus Digital Media Edition can also be purchased from Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/plus/) on Jan. 7 from 12:00 p.m. PST for $19.95.

Among the features included with Plus Digital Media Edition are skins for Windows Media Player 9; Plus Sleep Timer, which allows users to fall asleep to the music they choose by gradually decreasing volume over time; Plus CD Label Maker, which lets users create and print CD covers and labels; and Plus Analog Recorder, which allows users to create digital copies of vinyl records or cassette tapes using automatic hiss and pop reduction and automatic track-splitting. [i]Alongside the latest releases of Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft will also unveil revised licensing terms for its WMA 9 and WMV 9 codecs, which are used to convert analog sound and video to digital code and vice versa.

The revised licensing terms enable licensees to use WMA 9, which improves audio compression by up to 20 percent, and WMV 9 in a wider range of applications, including stand-alone hardware devices and computers running operating systems other than Windows. The Redmond, Wash., software maker has set licensing costs for WMA 9 and WMV 9 that make them cheaper to license than rival technologies, such as MPEG-4 and MPEG-2, it claimed.

For example, unit pricing for WMV 9 on devices and non-Windows computers is 10 cents per decoder, 20 cents per encoder and 25 cents for both encoder/decoder, Microsoft said. By comparison, licensing costs for each MPEG-4 video decoder, encoder and encoder/decoder licensing are 25 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents, respectively, it said.

In addition to updating its Windows Media Player and related technologies, Microsoft will also begin shipping its Plus Digital Media Edition for Windows XP. Hewlett-Packard is the first PC vendor to begin shipping the enhancement pack for Windows XP, which includes new features and tools for digital photography, digital music, and home video, Microsoft said.

Plus Digital Media Edition can also be purchased from Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/plus/) on Jan. 7 from 12:00 p.m. PST for $19.95.

Among the features included with Plus Digital Media Edition are skins for Windows Media Player 9; Plus Sleep Timer, which allows users to fall asleep to the music they choose by gradually decreasing volume over time; Plus CD Label Maker, which lets users create and print CD covers and labels; and Plus Analog Recorder, which allows users to create digital copies of vinyl records or cassette tapes using automatic hiss and pop reduction and automatic track-splitting. Sumner Lemon

DriveEuro

Bah. Does anyone actually use WMP?

Zardon

yes, according to industry reports millions do.

Surgical

Bah. Somebody does, really. Me, for example, why to use anything else?

Zardon

actually I have to agree, I find the newer builds very good !

DriveEuro

OK, well I watch some of my 300+ divx movies on WMP but for the most part I never use it...I have always preferred 3rd party programs that are smaller and yet have more options and preferences to be changed.

Zardon

I use powerDVD, sometimes ATIs own software, WMP and winamp. but I think windows media player is a pretty good all round package. of course there are better coded alternatives, but I think for an "out of the box" solution for most new users its really good. of course it wasnt always this way. the old memory leaks with the program are well known.

Zardon

XP download here


Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows 2000

Vampyromaniac

I still only use WiMP 6.4 Does what I need it to, and nothing more

Rayder

Windows Media Player 9 is now available "officially" through Windows Update. I noticed it for 98 and XP, dunno about other Windows versions....

It seems very nice, I downloaded all the XP Bonus stuff for it and WMP seems to have come a LOOONG way since it's humble beginnings. I think it's better than ever. Only problem I've seen so far is some tunes will report the incorrect "total time" for the song, although it will play all the way through. I thought that was a little odd.

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I use PowerDVD for watching movies too, I own version's 2.55 and v4.0. I use MusicMatch for my MP3's(own v6, but have upgraded to v7.5). BUT, I always set WMP as the default for everything EXCEPT DVD's, that stays with PowerDVD.

Essentially I do that so when I double-click on a random .wav, .mp3, .mpg or whatever....it just comes up and plays without having to load any big elaborate program like MusicMatch or ATI's software, etc., it just makes life easier for me. I've encountered problems when using a file-sharing program and telling it to play the file it's downloading when I had MusicMatch set as the default, so I don't do that anymore. WMP never causes those kinds of problems.

I haven't tried WinAmp in years, I don't rem' which version I used back then, but it seemed like an infestation that caused alot of problems for me, namely lock-ups, so I haven't bothered with it since. But I figure that between MusicMatch, Windows Media Player and ATI's file player, I have everything covered and don't need it, as far as I can see.

DriveEuro

I downloaded my copy on my 56k yesturday at a blistering 5.5 kb/s

Necrosis

What Bonus stuff? I didn't see anything bonus for it when I downloaded it yesterday? Care to share linkage???