Microsoft Windows Media "Player"

Ocean Moves · 26 Nov 2004, 13:30

the more I discover about microsoft, the more inane their products
seem to be.
For example "windows media player" version 8 or 9 or 10 or
whatever it is now...."the great media tool that plays a whole host of
formats blah blah blah"....

Ok, I want to play a SVCD ? er....WMP crashes.
sorry, you got a dig out a load of new codecs off the web.

ok, I want to play DVDÂ´s ? ...WMP doesnt work.
Err, sorry, you need WinDVD or Power DVD for decent DVD playback.
can I do encodes ? err no.....you need a decent encode program
like TMPEnc.

I want decent MP3 facilities and playback?
errrr....no you really need Winamp for this.

WHAT THE HELL IS WMP good for, exactly, (apart from crashing
and requiring security updates?!!!!)

26 Nov 2004, 13:42

umm, it has nice swirly effects

it really is sh*te isn't it?

hallucienate · 26 Nov 2004, 14:12

I found yesterday that my copy here at work is kaput. When I try to run it I get told it's not properly installed and I should get a new version from Microsoft. which I did. Now I'm told that that version is not right for my version and Windows. Which is a bit odd as I'm running XP Pro.

Ocean Moves · 26 Nov 2004, 14:26

even the swirly things dont work in v9 or 10 if you have a lower
powered machine.

I was hoping you guys were gonna say "actually, you're not quite
right...windows media player is invaluable for...."

who actually uses it?
(this question excludes Mrs Miggins who owns a PC she bought from
"Tiny PC" and is not reading this forum anyway)

26 Nov 2004, 14:38

still better than itunes

hallucienate · 26 Nov 2004, 14:42

I use it to play AVIs and MPEGs, but I put that down to force of habit and old habits and all that.

Dark Angel · 26 Nov 2004, 14:56

ok for watching films, not that I watch a lot of films on the comp

I do kinda like the swirlies tho

rian · 26 Nov 2004, 19:18

Dark Angel wrote:ok for watching films, not that I watch a lot of films on the comp

I do kinda like the swirlies tho

Dark · 26 Nov 2004, 21:55

I quite liked WMP 9, as it had the artist information, bios, album info, etc.

Now, unless I'bve not yet worked it out, WMP 10 has none of that. It just gives me some page with "Top Tracks" and "Recommends", all of which suck, and no bios. I don't know why.

Dan · 27 Nov 2004, 01:44

I have WMP version 9, but only for the codecs. If you look in your media player folder theres a file called mplayer2.exe. Clicking it gives you the classic media player version 6.4 (way better that the overbloated version 9 with mini browsers and media whatsits and all the unnecessary crud - all I want is a prog that plays my video files). I even went into folder options-filetypes and made mplayer2.exe the default media player as opposed to version 9.

OK so that has my mpg/m2v/vob/wmv/asf/vcd/svcd/mpg2 covered. (I have an icon on my desktop to bring up WMP9 as theres a few wmv files that only play on this version)

Then for avi I use DivX Player, unless it's xvid and then I have to re-encode the ruddy things with virtualdub.

And for mp3 winamp is the only choice.

CellThree · 27 Nov 2004, 08:06

I use WMP10 only for playing wmv files. I hate it, but not as much as Realplayer.

All other videotype files MPEG1, MPEG2, AVI, DIVX, XVID etc I use WinDVD 6 and of course Winamp 5.06 for MP3s etc.

sisxbeforedawn · 27 Nov 2004, 12:20

I've never had a problem with WMP10, it plays DVD's, SVCD's and everything else I have with no crashing or stalling

God praise Bill

I'm running XP Pro (fully SP'ed and Updated)

Izzy HaveMercy · 27 Nov 2004, 12:47

As a Mac-lover I use QuickTime exclusively.
It plays MPEGs, MP3, WAV et al.
No swirly effects slowing my PC down.
A great guru once said: "If you want to see juggling, go watch clowns".

The only thing I use WMP for is the WMV and WMA thingies people send me.

IZ.

Gary · 27 Nov 2004, 15:53

Quiff Boy wrote:still better than itunes

There is nothing wrong with itunes! i quite like it!

Dan · 27 Nov 2004, 17:49

CellThree wrote:I hate it, but not as much as Realplayer.

Download Tara realaudio winamp plugin and you can play realaudio/video with winamp. You have to have realplayer on your system but never need use it any more. Winamp plays the files much more cleanly. Also if you haven't already, make sure you stop realplayer autoloading on startup.

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:As a Mac-lover I use QuickTime exclusively.

Ugh! I hate quicktime player.
For some reason I can't play videos full screen with it. As soon as I try and resize the stupid little window the sound continues but the video freezes. I keep getting .mp4 videos that only play in quicktime. Thankfully I found a way to convert them.

Izzy HaveMercy · 27 Nov 2004, 18:46

Dan wrote: I keep getting .mp4 videos that only play in quicktime. Thankfully I found a way to convert them.

You can use the free DivX-player for that at www.divx.com

IZ.

Dan · 27 Nov 2004, 19:15

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:
Dan wrote: I keep getting .mp4 videos that only play in quicktime. Thankfully I found a way to convert them.
You can use the free DivX-player for that at www.divx.com

IZ.

That's what I use to play my divx, and it won't play mp4.

Izzy HaveMercy · 27 Nov 2004, 20:56

Dan wrote:
Izzy HaveMercy wrote:
Dan wrote: I keep getting .mp4 videos that only play in quicktime. Thankfully I found a way to convert them.
You can use the free DivX-player for that at www.divx.com

IZ.
That's what I use to play my divx, and it won't play mp4.

Hmm, should look into that for a while, could be wrong, of course....

IZ.