is a
Proprietary Freeware Software Media Player used for playing
Audio , as well as viewing
Video and
Image s on
Personal Computers running the
Microsoft Windows operating system. Microsoft has also made available versions for other
Operating System s including
Pocket PC ,
Mac OS (development on which has now ended), and
Solaris . These tend to lag behind the Windows versions in features, software update frequency, and the number of file formats supported. The basic file formats are WMV (
Windows Media Video & Audio), WMA (
Windows Media Audio ), and ASF (
Advanced Streaming Format ), and supports its own playlists files called WPL (Windows Playlist).
Windows Media Player replaced an earlier piece of software simply called
Media Player , adding features beyond simple video or audio playback. These include the ability to copy music to a
Compact Disc ,
Synchronise content with a
Digital Audio Player (
MP3 player), and let users buy music from one of several
Online Music Store s.
Windows Media Player competes with other freeware programs such as
RealNetworks '
RealPlayer ,
MPlayer ,
Nullsoft 's
Winamp , and
Apple Computer 's
QuickTime and
ITunes .
Windows Media Player comes bundled with the Windows operating system, using Microsoft's
DirectShow technology. However, the most recent versions of the player have required the latest versions of the OS. Some view this practice as an echo of Microsoft's success in driving out
Netscape Communications Corporation from its dominant position in the
Web Browser market, only this time, they contend Microsoft is attempting to drive its competitors in the streaming media market out of business.
In
March 2004 , the
European Commission fined Microsoft €497 million and ordered the company to provide a version of Windows without Windows Media Player, claiming Microsoft "broke
European Union competition law by leveraging its near
Monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group
Server operating systems and for media players". The company has made available a compliant version of its flagship operating system under the negotiated name "
Windows XP N," though the product has not been very successful.
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Version 9 was the final version of Windows Media Player to be released for
Mac OS X before development was cancelled by Microsoft. WMP for Mac OS X received widespread criticism from Mac users due to poor performance and features.
Developed by the Windows Media team at Microsoft instead of the
Macintosh Business Unit and released in
2003 , on release the application lacked many basic features that were found in other media players such as Apple's
ITunes and
QuickTime Player . It also lacked support for many media formats that version 9 of the Windows counterpart supported on release 10 months earlier.
The Mac version supported only
Windows Media encoded media (up to version 9) enclosed in the
ASF format, lacking support for all other formats such as MP4,
MPEG , and Microsoft's own
AVI format. On the user interface front, it did not prevent
Screensaver s from running during playback, it did not support file drag-and-drop, nor did it support playlists. While Windows Media Player 9 had added support for some files that use the
WMV9 codec (also known as the WMV3 codec), in other aspects it was seen as having degraded in features from previous versions.
The fact that Windows Media Player 10 does not exist for the Mac means that Mac users have no way of playing DRM-encrypted WMV and WMA files downloaded from online music stores which sell their songs in Windows Media format. These types of songs require certain authentication algorithms exclusive to Windows Media Player 10.
Windows Media Player for Mac OS X existed primarily for the strategic interest of Microsoft trying to make Windows Media a more attractive format for web content creators. The very basic Mac player, in tandem with Microsoft's restrictive control over Windows Media technology, caused many problems, such as the lack of Mac open source players that can support proprietory WMV9 AVI files.
On called
WMV Player which allows some forms of
Windows Media to be played within
Apple's QuickTime player (and other QuickTime-aware applications).
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As an alternative, a large amount of content that can be played with Windows Media Player can also be played with the
VLC Media Player , however VLC does not support certain proprietory Windows Media codecs, such as WMV3, on platforms other than Windows.
, codenamed Polaris, features many changes. The Media Library is now presented sans the category trees which were prominent in the earlier versions. Rather, on selecting the category in the left pane, the contents will appear on the right, in a graphical manner with thumbnails - a stark departure from textual presentation of information.
Other features include:
- Stacking - Stacking allows graphical viewing of how many albums you have in a specific category of music. The more items you see in a stack (category), the larger the pile.
- Word Wheel - Searches and displays results as characters are being entered, without waiting for ''Enter'' key to be hit. . Results are refined based on further characters that are typed.
- CD Burning - CD Burning now shows a graphical bar showing how much space will be used on the disc.
- URGE - The new music store from Microsoft and MTV networks is integrated with the player.
- Global Status - Global status shows a broad overview of what the player is doing. The information presented include status information regarding buffering, ripping, burning and synchronization.
Although a firm release date for Windows Media Player 11 has not been announced as of yet, Microsoft has said it is on track to deliver the Windows XP version of WMP 11 by the end of June 2006
Windows Media Player 11 will also be included in Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system when it is released in late 2006 (for businesses) or early 2007 (for consumers); the Vista version will include some features not found in the XP version, though Microsoft hasn't said what those features will be. However, as a result of a European antitrust ruling, Microsoft will also be required to produce "Windows Vista N" editions which do not include Windows Media Player for European Union markets. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4754462.stm
of Windows Media Player 11 running on
Windows Vista ]]
- Windows Media Player 11 (codenamed Polaris)
