Windows Media Player 11?

Anodyne · Post by **Anodyne** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:40 pm

Has anyone here installed Media Player 11 (the final build, not beta)? If so, how is it for stability, system overhead, etc.? I'm not so interested in how it catalogs music, dowloads cover art, just whether it is a worthwhile (and safe) upgrade over MP 9. I mainly use media player for listening to internet radio and viewing video files that quicktime doesn't handle.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:45 am

More importantly than how good is it, how do you get rid of this VIRUS

Media player, should be classified a virus, here is why.

It ignores most of the things you ask it to do.
It doesnt have an un-installer, System Restore is the only way to remove it, and if that was dissabled when it got installed then you are screwed.
The files and directory re-appear when you delete them.
It changes the permissions after you did to block yourself access so it wont run

It doesnt tell you any of this when you download it.
It takes over playing files from other players.

How is this any different from malware or viri.????

Andy

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:19 am

Well, to its credit, WiMP 11 is a good-looking and intuitive media player. I have it installed on my Dell Inspiron. I haven't used it much, but I think it is a worthwhile upgrade over version 10 (and 9). The reviews seem to agree that 11 is worlds better than 10. One slight annoyance is the elimination of the "File..." menu bar at the top, but, as with any program, it can be made to appear by pressing the ALT key.

I haven't looked at how much system resources the player uses, but it has been stable and hasn't caused my computer to slow down much when in use (it is a dual-core system with 1GB of RAM, however).

I'd say it's safe to upgrade!

pbecker · Post by **pbecker** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:44 am

I can't get WMP11 to play WMV files at all! It crashes when opening them saying that it cannot play the file, but it displays the first frame of the video anyway. Nice one, MS

Oh, and I totally agree that it behaves much like a virus - VERY annoying!!

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:02 am

I use "Media Player Classic", its got heaps of features, is dead easy to use, allows you to change aspect ratios etc etc, supports multiple audio streams, subtitles, and will play almost every type of media file out there.

Its available here http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_L ... c_Pack.htm

Also available is the "Real Alternative" and "Quicktime Alternative", so you dont even need either of those annoying programs either.

It really is the only sensible solution that I know of, I have been a very happy user for a few years now. And you can un-install it with ease.

Andy

tempeteduson · Post by **tempeteduson** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:30 am

pbecker wrote:I can't get WMP11 to play WMV files at all! It crashes when opening them saying that it cannot play the file, but it displays the first frame of the video anyway. Nice one, MS

Hmmm, that's odd. I haven't heard of this problem before, nor have I experienced it. I've played a WMV file (from the internet) in WMP11 just fine.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft just had to test WMV playback because it's, well, an MS invention. They couldn't have missed that one, could they??

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:29 am

andyb wrote:It really is the only sensible solution that I know of,

how bout VLC?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:46 am

It takes over playing files from other players.

To be fair a lot of other players (try to) do this as well, ie RealPlayer, Quicktime, iTunes, etc.

I'm still on WMP 9, I haven't upgraded because I don't want to lose the graphic equalizer feature, can anyone say if WMP 11 has this feature?

sanse · Post by **sanse** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:24 am

wmp11 works fine. rock-solid. equalizer, srs truebass and wow, very good library, easy intuitive user-interface.

the latest build even lets you rip to wav and encode to windows media pro.

i'm running the final build 11.0.5721.5145.

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:42 am

Jag,

Yep, it still has an Equalizer. Go to View, Enhancements, Graphic Equalizer. It also has one on the bottom left of the player during playback (just left-click the album art a few times).

I've been using WMP 11 for a few weeks and so far so good. The black/gun metal gray skin does take a little getting used to. The Vista version supposedly looks a little better.

Tips:
1) If you value your privacy, be sure to uncheck the "send player usage info to MS" (or stop using the Internet

).
2) If you want to rip your music CDs and then want the freedom to transfer between devices, be sure to uncheck "copy protect files".
3) The Urge music store software is a separate EULA that you don't have to install if you don't want to.

The first can be found by hitting "alt" as tempeteduson mentioned or right-click the top of the player then Tools, Options, and Privacy. The second can be found by going to Tools, Options, and Rip Music.

I was going to try iTunes 7, but after hearing about all of the bugs and the desktop shortcuts that never die I decided to pass for now. Maybe I'll try again when Apple learns to appreciate us more. I do like Quicktime 7 in HD though

.

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:55 am

Goldmember wrote: 1) If you value your privacy, be sure to uncheck the "send player usage info to MS" (or stop using the Internet ).

I'm going to go OT just for one second (excuse the infraction, pls), but I was thinking about this exact subject earlier today.

I was using google talk, and I wanted to view past conversations. However, unlike other IM clients, google talk archives your past conversations online, where they are tied to your gmail account. MSIM and YIM both archive the conversation on the local computer. The implication here is that google has access to all of your private IM conversations. It does offer a decent feature (being able to view your IM conversations from a web interface, on any computer) but the security implications of this are staggering to me.

Needless to say, if MSFT ever did something like this, they would promptly be castrated by the general public. Is there some compelling reason to trust google with private, sensitive information more than MSFT? There may be, but personally I think businesses are businesses and they'll leverage that information however they think they can without attracting attention to themselves.

On the subject of WMP11, I've used it only for work, and I've used only the betas. It seems stable and enjoyable, but I don't really think it offers a lot of compelling features over 9 and 10 (unless you're interested in purchasing music through URGE). If you just want a basic player, I'd go with either WMP9/10, or some of the other players people have mentioned here. No need to fix something that already works.

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:39 am

Beyonder wrote:Is there some compelling reason to trust google with private, sensitive information more than MSFT? There may be, but personally I think businesses are businesses and they'll leverage that information however they think they can without attracting attention to themselves.

No, they shouldn't be trusted. IMO, Google and Microsoft are vying to see who will be the Anti-Christ

. As you said, they are in business to make as much money as possible without the Feds or consumers getting too upset.

I pretty much just use my Gmail account for spam now. However, it seems that every Email, IM, Internet search, Web site visit, Forum post or Phone number called is saved somewhere by someone or something. Pretty scary to think about but c'est la vie in the 21st century.

Beyonder wrote:If you just want a basic player, I'd go with either WMP9/10, or some of the other players people have mentioned here. No need to fix something that already works.

Yeah, not much has changed. They just moved some buttons around and changed the skin. But I was on WMP 9 so I said what the heck, I'll give it a try.

Take Care.

Edit: Added phone numbers called to the list. Be careful what you say, Big Brother is listening!

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:39 am

I had to upgrade because a video-on-demand service that I want to use only works with WMP 10 onwards; I just installed WMP 11 and all seems fine so far, thanks for all your help guys.