Windows Media Player 9 Inspires Plug-Ins and Add-Ons Microsoft Opens Special Download Site Eric Grevstad
Mon 2/3/03 -- It's not true that Bill Gates can stand on the shore and command the tides to stop; if he could, PC and portable digital music player owners around the world would dump the still-dominant MP3 format and play only Windows Media Audio (WMA) music files. But Microsoft keeps trying -- courting record companies with new technology that promises CD and DVD tracks that combine PC or handheld playability with digital-rights-management copy protection, and courting consumers with the new Windows Media Player 9 that debuted last month.
There are a couple of issues with installing the new version of Microsoft's free CD, Internet radio, and audio- and video-file player. First, while you can install Media Player 9 via Windows Update, you might prefer to download and save the installer (9.7MB for Windows XP, 13.3MB for Windows 98 Second Edition, Me, or 2000) from this page, so you can copy it to and run it on a second or offline PC.
Second and more serious, you can't change your mind about Media Player 9: Microsoft suggests using System Restore before setup so you can later roll back your entire PC to its prior state, but that's a poor attempt to fudge the fact that you can't uninstall the player. Decide you liked Media Player 8 better? You're hosed.
That said, we think it's unlikely you'll want to go back -- at least not if you're running Windows XP; many of Media Player 9's best features, such as hi-fi "lossless" storage of CD tracks and the ability to speed up or slow down playback without mangling pitch and tone, are available only on Microsoft's current operating system.
Other welcome additions include volume leveling across tracks (as seen in the $20 Plus but not the free version of MusicMatch Jukebox 7.5); more options for automatically or manually creating playlists; and the ability to "queue up" tracks for playing after the current one and to automatically update or correct artist and album info in your media library. Finally, in an example of little things meaning a lot, there's the option to minimize Media Player 9 to a handy toolbar in the Windows Taskbar, with handy CD controls and a cute postage-stamp video window.
Plug It In, Plug It In
Microsoft is also making a bigger-than-usual push to promote third-party plug-ins, skins, and add-ons for Windows Media Player 9, even to the point of launching a WMPlugIns.com site that promises over 100 enhancements from 20 companies.
Some plug-in categories are familiar from previous versions of Windows Media Player. For instance, while it can play MP3 files, Microsoft's program can't record or rip audio CD tracks to the MP3 format (as opposed to WMA format) without a third-party MP3 encoder; and while it can play AVI and WMV video clips, it can't play DVD movies without a third-party MPEG-2 decoder.
Both CyberLink and InterVideo offer DVD plug-ins (subsets of their respective PowerDVD and WinDVD software players) for Media Player 9, as does DVD creation software vendor Sonic, which claims its playback takes the lowest CPU overhead. All are priced at $15.
If you're ready to rip CD auto tracks into MP3s, all three companies also offer MP3 encoders, also identically priced at $10, as well as bundles of their MP3 and DVD packs for $20.
Two firms have introduced audio enhancements for Media Player 9 timed to coinide with the launch of WMPlugIns.com. QSound Labs' iQms2 ($15) adds QSound's 3D audio effects to MP3s and streaming Internet audio, turning mono or stereo into two-channeel output with a wider perceived sound field, as well as QRumble and QSizzle features to add punch and brilliance, restoring the "warmth" of analog playback to digital music files. A multiband equalizer and headphone and speaker modes are built in.
SRS Labs says its Circle Surround II ($10) is the only 5.1 surround-sound plug-in available for Media Player 9, letting users enjoy 5.1 channels of high-quality surround audio from CDs, MP3 and WMA files, and streamed audio -- in fact, from all content except DVDs. TruBass and Dialog Clarity technologies sharpen low tones and vocals. Circle Surround II requires a multichannel sound card (excluding Turtle Beach by Santa Cruz) and a minimum of four speakers.
According to Microsoft, other vendors soon to offer wares at the plug-in site range from Ahead Software to Dolby Labs. Meanwhile, the software giant has followed the path of its TweakUI and other popular operating system PowerToys with a TweakMP plug-in that lets users adjust the player's full-screen appearance and CD-burning defaults.
