Windows Media Player 11

I had a chance to mess with Windows Media Player 11 today at work and I must say I’m very impressed. I’ve never been a big fan of WMP, since the early days, as it’s always been so Microsoft, which is big, bulky, and non-organic. Now, I don’t know if they got some new interface design people but this thing is above and beyond what they’ve been doing with WMP. It’s more, dare I say, Apple in its feel and I think the logical direction media player interfaces to go in. In addition, it gives you a good feel for where the Windows OS is going since it has much of the look of the upcoming Vista.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is NOT a clone of iTunes, nor should it be. This is a new media player that attempts to do some new things. First off, it feels easier to get around in. No longer does it go right to the DONWLOAD THIS STUFF TODAY page that WMP 10 does. Second, the lay out using the album art is ingenious! I really really liked that feature. Play lists are much easier to create and sort through now as well.

Right now WMP 11 is still in beta, which means some things are likely to be changed and tweaked before the final version, but all in all it seems pretty stable and functional to me and I don’t see this changing must in the future.

-Steve