Like its predecessor, Windows Media Player 9 offers only limited support for MP3 files, unless the consumer pays for an add-in product. The media program will play MP3s but won't rip files in the format without extra costs and third-party components from CyberLink or InterVideo. As it did with Windows Media Player 8, Roxio provides the CD-burning engine. The software behemoth also has beefed up consumer privacy, giving consumers control over whether Internet sites can identify the player and whether Windows Media Player 9 can track CD and DVD song history, among other features. "We're creating a breakthrough playback experience," said Michael Aldridge, general manager of Windows Media Platform Group. To the player, Microsoft added Auto Playlists, which are in some ways similar to the SmartPlaylist feature part of Apple Computer's iTunes 3. Both features help to quickly organise digital music files. The new Windows Media comes with more than a dozen preconfigured Auto Playlists for organising songs such as by genre, rating or most played. Like iTunes 3, which Apple released in July, Windows Media Player 9 Series rates songs on a 1- to 5-star scale. Both programs also can organise playlists based on rating. By default, Windows Media Player assigns all songs 3 stars. Windows Media Player 9 comes with an ample selection of "skins", or different colors or motifs, but on Windows XP consumers also can manually change the colour scheme of the player. The player is updated to improve the quality of video playback so that viewers don't have to wait for the video to begin, a process known as "buffering". Called FastStream, the technology uses the available bandwidth to the PC to deliver more of content at once, so that the viewer can fast-forward or rewind relatively seamlessly. The new player offers other enhancements for organising songs such as more intuitive file folders, a Windows XP feature. Windows Media Series 9 Player also can organise songs from their metadata or even clean up and add missing metadata from older songs ripped without the information. Microsoft's media player adds cross-fading between songs, similar to the transitions heard over the radio. The consumer has control over how many seconds of overlap between two songs. Apple introduced a similar feature with iTunes 2 and increased control over it in the new version. RealNetworks' RealOne now supports the feature, too. Windows Media 9 also can level the sound level among songs, a longstanding feature of MusicMatch and new to iTunes with version 3. When consumers minimise the program to the Windows Task Bar, a mini-player control appears on the task bar for listening to digital media, adjusting sound, or accessing other commonly used features. A video pops up in a mini-window when the task bar control is enabled. Microsoft also improved digital rights management, which could be important for PressPlay and other premium services provider. Consumers can now back up the licences for the songs they purchase so they are not lost should the PC hard drive become corrupted or infected with a virus. The Real rival
As opposed to Microsoft, RealNetworks is aiming to become the online equivalent of a cable operator, in which it provides exclusive content to subscribers. The strategy has already helped the company gain 700,000 subscribers for entertainment including audio and video clips of TV shows and live baseball. In contrast, Microsoft is planning to provide the platform for other subscription services to provide quality video and audio playback. "We're about creating technology innovations to enable a bouquet of subscription services," said Microsoft's Aldridge. RealNetworks launched its Helix Universal server this summer in a move to improve its chances in the server market by supporting most media formats. On Wednesday, RealNetworks said that its Helix Universal server and RealOne Player would support Windows Media 9 Series Beta content delivery and playback. "We are delighted to add support for Windows Media 9 as a new feature of our universal media server and player products," said RealNetworks chief executive Rob Glaser. "Now consumers can use a single player -- RealOne -- to manage and play all of the digital media on their PC and on the Internet. And broadcasters and enterprises can now deliver Windows Media 9 along with every other major format via an operating system-independent, carrier-class platform."
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