Microsoft in Fast-Forward Mode
For copying and listening to music, Media Player 10 will be the choice of millions. Good thing Gates & Co. have improved it, dramatically
The Good The newest version of Windows Media Player is a workhorse
The Bad Copying music from many handheld devices to your computer is still difficult
The Bottom Line It's a free, solid choice for music lovers who haven't embraced the iPod
My experiences using earlier versions of Windows Media to record and play music were pretty dismal. The program, long part of the software bundle Microsoft (MSFT
) burns onto the bulk of the world's PCs, just didn't work very well.Windows Media made it difficult to copy CDs and download music. It strained to recognize MP3 players and other portable devices attached to my laptop, even when they ran on Microsoft's operating system. And it often got persnickety when I tried to use audio software from rivals RealPlayer and iTunes on the same computer.
The latest version of the software represents a significant improvement, though. Windows Media Player 10 isn't perfect, but copying, managing, and listening to music has been made easier in almost every aspect.
SIMPLY HARD. The software has actually existed for about a year. But with hordes of people still taking their first steps into the digital music scene, it seems worth taking a look at the latest version of the media player that almost all of them will find on their PCs. (In the coming days, I'll be doing some follow-up reviews of other digital music standards, from the obscure, patent-free, open-source Ogg Vorbis to the nearly ubiquitous MP3.)
The problems with Windows Media Player Version 9 were fresh in my mind. I'd used Version 9 until just last week, when my office laptop was upgraded to the Windows XP operating system. (The new version of the media player runs only on XP.) Using the older system, I found it impossible to accomplish the simplest of tasks, such as copying music from a CD to my hard drive. The system seemed to convince itself that the music was copy protected, even though that feature had been turned off. And it had trouble recognizing a handheld computer and a smart phone that use Microsoft operating systems.
All those basic problems disappeared with the installation of Windows Media 10, the latest in a long series of evolutionary steps. It recognized a broad range of smart phones and MP3 players without a hitch, thanks to a new feature called media transfer protocol. For example, it recognized the iRiver H10 MP3 player almost instantly, and quickly offered me an opportunity to synch the iRiver with media on my computer's hard drive.
I skipped the "manual" option, which would have allowed me to pick and choose which files to copy, and proceeded with an "automatic" synch, which sought out and copied songs from various folders on my laptop. And it threw in all the photos and other sorts of images as well. I was off to a good start.
MORE DATA. With the introduction of its new media player, Microsoft has stopped trying to force customers to use its own digital music standard, known as Windows Media Audio. Windows Media Player 10 allows recording of music in the popular MP3 format. The earlier version played MP3 files, but required users to record with Windows Media Audio.
Given the choice, many people will still elect to use Windows Media over MP3. The older MP3 format eats up more space. Windows Media Audio files are about half as large as MP3 files, without any discernible compromise in sound quality. The MP3 advantage is its ubiquity. Even Apples (AAPL
) play back MP3 files. And MP3 files easily download to PalmOne devices. Windows Media files won't transfer to Palm devices without a software plug-in, called Pocket Tunes, that consumers must purchase from a third party. Even so, most users will place a lot of value on the ability to cram more data onto the same amount of space, and do so without compromising quality.
Windows Media Audio lets users choose the sound quality that suits them best. Those most concerned about conserving space for their music libraries can select the lowest audio standard. Audiophiles can select the highest quality, which records music at the rate of 192 bits a second. I recorded several versions of an old Johnny Cash song to see if I could distinguish among the quality settings.
VINYL, TOO. His rueful ballad, "My Old Faded Rose," came off as a bit tinny at the lowest quality setting. It struck me as more like AM, rather than FM, radio. But the 2.5-minute-long song ate up just 1 megabit on my hard drive. The song sounded much better after I rerecorded it at the highest quality setting. I could practically hear Cash inhaling and exhaling as he sang. But the higher-quality recording took up four times as much space on my hard drive. I recorded an MP3 version as well. The sound quality equaled the high-quality setting, but it did take up more space. And in all cases, the Media Player pulled song titles and other critical album information off the Web.
Windows Media 10 offers other welcome features. Microsoft has a plug-in that allows users to copy their vinyl records and tapes onto their computers as digital files. All they need is the software, the turntable or tape player, and a special cord that has phono jacks on one end and a computer jack on the other. Consumers can buy the cord at most stereo or electronics stores. And the free software can be found at Microsoft.com.
The new media player is closely integrated with a wide variety of Internet media. It supports music and video stores from Napster (NAPS
) to Movielink. It includes links to such Internet radio sites as Live365.com. It also links to Major League Baseball and Court TV. That could help Microsoft establish itself as an important player in the emerging world of IPTV. If it can convince people to start watching streams of Court TV on their PCs, the company could eventually hasten the Internet's emergence as a legitimate alternative to cable, satellite, and broadcast TV.
"HUGE STEP FORWARD." Windows Media 10 still leaves plenty of room for improvement, however. I was frustrated by the difficulty of copying music from a second laptop to my main laptop at work, even though both run Windows Media 10. I copied several CDs from the second laptop to the iRiver MP3 player, but the Windows Media 10 didn't offer an easy way to download them to the other laptop.
Certain kinds of smaller, portable devices can accomplish that task, but larger MP3 players don't function that way. It's certainly possible to transfer the music from one computer to another by networking the two laptops, copying the music onto a CD-R or DVD or USB drive. But Windows Media 10 doesn't make the job easier -- it won't play back music downloaded with iTunes or RealPlayer.
Still, Windows Media 10 is a huge step forward. It works on a more consistent basis than older versions. The layout and appearance are simpler, making it easier to use. And Microsoft has made a serious effort to work in harmony with services based on different digital standards. It may not qualify as the sexiest or hippest media player on the market, but no one said that it has to. As the default standard that millions of people will embrace, it needs to work efficiently and fairly. Its faults aside, Windows Media 10 does a pretty good job on both fronts.
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Rosenbush is a senior writer for BusinessWeek Online in New York
Copyright 2005, Bloomberg L.P.
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