Windows Media Player 10 Technical Beta Review
Today Microsoft released the Windows Media Player 10 Technical Beta. I got my first sneek peek at it during the MVP Summit in April. Jim Allchin was really excited about it. Now I can finally discuss why. After you install it (link at the bottom of the page) you'll be asked to restart your computer. When you launch it after restarting, you'll be greated with this:
First off, they got rid of those retarded buttons down the side. This was Microsoft's stab at "task-based workflow". It sucked, and was always confusing. Now, there are a few simple tabs at the top. The new interface is also a really nice translucent blue, which is very easy on the eyes. The first thing I did was click on the "Library" tab, because that's where I spend the most time. That screenshot is below:
Notice the new three-paned layout. Microsoft REALLY likes three paned views. Almost as much as they like three-letter acronyms. Isn't it ironic that the acronym for "three-letter acronym" is itself a three-letter acronym? Anyways, in the leftmost pane, you'll see a new option that says "My TV". That's right. WMP10 will sync with MCE2005 and the Portable Media Centers to help manage all your digital media recordings across every device. On the right pane, you have syncing and burning capabilities right from the library. One click and you're done.
Another cool thing I thought I should note (dunno if WMP9 had it or not) is that when you right-click the title bar when it's NOT in normal window mode, and you get a contect menu with the standard menu items. I thought that was pretty nifty.
Finally, Microsoft did some work with usability, and noticed that WMP9 was really crappy when it came to resizing the window. Well, WMP10 resizes smartly, and as you can see, even resizes to a very compact mode. This isn't a skin, this is me grabbing the corner resize handle and making it as small as possible. Oh yeah, and this screenshot is actual size. The only problem is, you can't set it to be "always on top" in this mode. Bummer. They need to make this a skin then so that I can do that.
Well, that about does it for my quick tour. Check it out, it's really cool.