CNET Editors' review
The latest iteration of Windows Media Player adds a lot of useful bells and whistles, succeeding in many ways as a competitor to iTunes for Windows. A tree-style file directory makes it easy to find the music you want quickly, and a simple search box gets you where you want to go immediately. A five-star rating system lets you rate your music, then organize it by rating, so it's easy to group your favorite songs. Drag-and-drop functionality and a handy Create Playlist button take any confusion out of the process of making your own playlists. Creating the perfect mix CD is equally as easy--simply drag and drop songs into a Burn List in the right panel, then click Start Burn to finish. Ripping was reasonably fast on our test machine, and the program let us pick our preferred bit rate and audio file type.
The biggest new feature in WMP11 is the ability to sign up with paid music and video services. Without registering, we were able to browse various sites and compare prices among services including XM Radio--all from the Windows Media Player interface. We like the new, cleaner look, and the back and forward buttons make it easier to navigate. The ability to sort music by year released makes for some great reminiscing. Overall, we think the latest Windows Media Player offers almost everything you need for every type of media, making it a solid choice for an all-in-one jukebox.
Publisher's Description
From Microsoft:
Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP offers great new ways to store and enjoy all your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV. Play it, view it, and sync it to a portable device for enjoying on the go or even share with devices around your home all from one place.
Simplicity In Design: Bring a whole new look to your digital entertainment. More of the Music You Love: Breathe new life into your digital music experience. All Your Entertainment in One Place: Store and enjoy all of your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV. Enjoy Everywhere: Stay connected with your music, video, and pictures no matter where you are. Check out the new Media Sharing feature.
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All versions:
3.6 starsout of 992 votes
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Current version:
3.6 starsout of 573 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"Great Visual Interface, Horrible on Processing Speed"
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
Visual presentation
Organization of Menu
Improved sound controls
Optimized user interfaceCons
Greatly slows down the processor for other tasks running on windows simulataneously
Causes many programs running simultaneously to go unresponsive
Tends to freeze up computerSummary
My HP all in one is equipped with a dual core processor that typically operates under a 2.6GHZ pace; however, with this media player running, even only in the background, I experience heavy delays in running any other program, and it causes my computer to operate under a 1.6GHZ pace. (This can be seen even under the task manager when looking at its CPU usage) For those of you reading my review whom are not as experienced in IT: basically what I am saying, is that this program will slow down your computer a great deal. And although it is pretty and its menu is easy to navigate, it will cause many applications like internet explorer and microsoft office, to suddenly freeze up and go unresponsive, to the point where you have to restart the program. I found this experience to be highly frustrating, thus I give it 3.5 stars. If Microsoft can improve its cpu usage and allow for a more comfortable cohesiveness with other running programs, Windows media player will be my number one media player and I will uninstall iTunes immediately.
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"A necessity on my computer."
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
very quick, works very well with most other programs.
Cons
part of Windows, expect problems with errors, and possible attacks.
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"Is it possible to go back to WMP10? I dont like 11."
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
It's very simple and "dummy proof" in my opinion.
Cons
I used to like to periodically clean out the library in WMP 10 and then rebuild it so that all my music was indexed properly. Ir theres a way to do that in 11 I sure can't figure it out. I've been trying the other high rated music players and have thus far not found a suitable replacement.
Summary
If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them! But to the point WMP 11 is actually a very user friendly program and works well and I've never had a crash. It just lacks some of the controls from previous versions.
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"played video files I converted. Old version would not."
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
played files I wanted played.
Cons
not a fan of the new GUI.
Summary
Plays my content although navigating the interface takes some getting used to. talk about hiding menus.
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"Kept me up to date on new programs ."
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
Easy downloads.
Cons
afraid to use it because my pc is fairly old . But am in the makings of uo grading to a new one in the near future.
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"Works Great!"
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
Starts right up, no buffering, good quality and options.
Cons
Can't think of any.
Summary
Great!
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"fantastic! i love it"
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
effective,efficient & flexible
Cons
non so far that i know of, except that i can't play tv on it
Summary
there is always room for improvement.
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"its media player what do you expect"
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
it does what it says on the tin
Cons
dont install itunes or every time itunes updates you'll have to figure out how to make things play in media player again when you double click on them. the settings in itunes change every time. i wonder why?
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"Could not get this download to work."
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
A good player when mine was working but this download would not fix what is wrong with mine.
Cons
The download would not fix what is wrong with my windows media player.????
Summary
The download did not work for me. I do not know why.
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"deaf user that can't hear the sounds"
Version: Windows Media Player 11
Pros
it sounds good to hearing users
Cons
music or sounds are wasted in my hard drive,, deaf users didnt need sounds or music. I preferred not to download musics in..
Summary
We deaf people need good closed captions in music, videos and any movies..
