Microsoft - Windows Media Player 7

Advantages: free software, plays most formats
Disadvantages: microsoft, is a huge file to download

...it, I have praised a Microsoft program! But with good reason, please read on… ** How to get it? ** Just like Internet Explorer this is a free bit of software, just what we like to hear! The windows media player does come bundled with all versions of Windows from as far back as Windows 3.1 if I remember correctly! Over those years as you can imagine it has changed a lot, both in the formats it plays and how it looks. Any way back to how to get it… ...
...download this off of the Microsoft Website. This can be done from the Windows Update Website located at: windowsupdate.microsft.com. Or the Windows Media Player can be downloaded from the Windows Media Player Website located at: www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia. The latest version is Windows Media Player version 7.1, this is for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, and Windows 2000. There is a different version for Windows XP, but I will ... Read review

Advantages: Its free
Disadvantages: But its not a patch on Winamp

...am sick and tired of Microsoft applications that take over your system and write themselves into places that they were never authorized to sit in. Internet Explorer is a great example. Here is another. Media Player 7 is one of the most bloated pieces of software I have seen from their stable - they must have used the thesis why do thigns small and simple like WinAmp when you can take over the entire screen and have lots of whistles and bells like ...
...is there any need for Microsoft to go writing their own? I doubt any WinAmp users will be switching to Media PLayer, that's for sure. In summary then, what we have is a piece of software that Microsoft see as a step forward but which learns none of the lessons of WinAmp and tries to do things its own way, failing in the process. ... Read review

Advantages: Good looking, good quality playback, lots of features
Disadvantages: Bloated, larger download than Winamp

Microsoft's software is well know for being bloated, buggy and often slow. Although a 'little' larger than previous versions, WMP7 is actually quite good. Firstly, it does away with the look of the older versions, replacing it with Winamp-style skins. It goes one further, however, by allowing complete rearrangement of the controls rather than just altering the look of them. This leads to some pretty nifty looking designs, such as Toothy - which ...
...to be compared to Winamp (and Sonique, to a lesser extent), and much is personal preference. Winamp is small and sleek, and has some very nice plugins. WMP7, however, gives better playback (on my hardware at least) and the interface is much nicer to use. The mini-browser built in to Winamp is a little limiting, and MS have gone one further here too. The support for burning CDs from MP3s, recording MP3s and even transfering songs to a PDA or MP3 player ... Read review

Advantages: easy to use, plethora of formats
Disadvantages: slow,spying on us,

...8.0 (WMP)? If yes, then Microsoft knows about it!!! Amazing eh? Not very difficult for them, I reckon. But what about us? Why do we have to be all the time so buttoned up when we want to use a Microsoft’s software? The other day I wrote about problems with MSN messengerand that’s why I made some investigation about my WMP 8.0. Sorry for being aggresive a bit about Bill Gate's creatures (or Monsters).I'll be something like the devil's ...
...By doing so Microsoft gathers two information : the movie’s title and the ID of WMP. Moreover Media Player create a small data base in the HardDisk, and contains all the data of the movies that had been played. The question here is WHAT THE HELL MICROSOFT WANT ALL THESE INFO? By doing so, they do not offer anything to us. By spying on us they are not make our life easier. All this data are by default stored in each CD/DVD (that’s why ... Read review

Advantages: Free, versatile, plays almost everything
Disadvantages: Takes up a lot of RAM on your computer

...version 7 free from the Microsoft site. This I promptly did. The great thing about this player is that it plays just about everything from mp3’s, CD’s, videos and streaming audio and video. You can also copy music from you CD to your hard-drive and copy music from your hard-drive to a CD, all without any software. Another handy feature is that you can “rip” your CD’s at different sound quality levels and then store ...
...download different skins from the Microsoft site and this will make the player very pleasing to the eye. Also you can program this player to display several different visuals on your screen, whilst in audio play. You can have everything from a multi-band equalizer to some very funky looking effects. However these are just for visual effects and do not enhance the quality of the sound in any way. Overall this is a very useful player for music fanatics ... Read review

Advantages: Technology first class - and free with it!
Disadvantages: None noticed so far apart from the 30 minute+ download time

...I recently downloaded the latest version of Windows Media Player 7 and I am impressed at the versatility of it and the quality of the downloads. As with the Real players accesing favourite sites is no problem and the latest technology means you can customise the `skins' for the player, download the latest in whatever shade of music you like and even include the videos with Mpeg4. There is also a handy little Adaptec CD writer buried in there too so you can transfer all those favourite sounds to a CD to play in the car. This is what music was made for!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: none that i have experienced
Disadvantages: lots read above

...MediaPlayer7 takes a lot longer to load up then the older visions. Microsoft have tried to make mediaplayer to be a jack of all trade piece of software. Mediaplayer7 tries to do everything but the result is that the interface is quite confusing. When viewing mpeg you don't get as many options as with the old ones. The CD player you can't choose your own preferences like other CD players. I personally think that the different skins you can use is useless. I think microsoft have taken a backwards step with mediaplayer7... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Needed for some internet options
Disadvantages: Slow, useless

...Some time ago I upgraded my media player to the new version 7. Since then I have only had problems. It takes ages to start up and it never opens up all files, does not import all files from folders, and so on. I have still to find how to make playlists. Plus I think that screen while playing mp3 can be done without. I would reccommend you upgrade only if you think your computer is good/fast enough to cope with it. If you have mp3 keep using the unsophisticated but reliable winamp.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful