Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.betanews.com/article/Windows_Media_Player_11_Beta_2_Out/1157053901' target='_blank'>http://www.betanews.com/article/Windows_Media_Player_11_Beta_2_Out/1157053901</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Microsoft on Thursday released a second beta of Windows Media Player 11, providing some performance enhancements, bug fixes and the integration of Windows Media Connect functionality into the player itself. The new feature would allow users to automatically share the contents of their WMP library with compatible devices around the home, the company said in its release notes. WMP11 Beta 2 also shows continued progress with the player's integration with MTV's music service, URGE. The service is a joint initative between the music network and Microsoft. In addition to the functionality changes and bug fixes, Beta 2 also includes new online stores, including eMusic, VidZone and Music Giants for a total of 14. Microsoft said it expected additional stores to be added before the final release."</i><br /><br />Nothing earth-shattering here, but the build-out of integration with additional music stores might be a prelude to things to come with Zune.

[Darius Wey]

The Windows Media Connect integration isn't hard to miss. I switched on my Xbox 360 and the player went berserk. :lol:

Overall, Beta 2 is faster and more stable, so I'd recommend all Beta 1 users upgrade as soon as possible.

[randalllewis]

I have never vented here that I can recall, but there is a first time for everything.

I have been using WMP 11 since Beta 1 was first made available. I downloaded Beta 2 last week. While there is much to like about WMP 11 (it is faster, more visual, better integrated with music stores) it has one very nasty bug that has yet to be corrected.

I don't know how many people make use of the Find Album Art feature. I'd advise against it. Most of my 1300 songs have their accompanying album art. Yet there are a hundred or so that do not for one reason or another. I have tried using the Find Album Art feature to replace the ugly generic art that WMP 11 uses. Right click on an album and select Find Album Art. After a brief search, many times you will be presented with one or more album choices to select from. But there are other times (and I can't figure out what causes this) when taking this action doesn't lead to a search, but to a dialog box asking what you want to search for: album or artist. When this option appears, your best bet would be to cancel it and forget about album art.

If you make the mistake of selecting one of the choices and starting the search, the program will make an album selection, grab a half dozen or so random songs from your library and change the title, artist, and FILE NAME to match the album it selected.

The only way to recover is to one by one rename each of the tracks WMP 11 kidnapped. If the hijacked tracks include something obscure, it can be difficult to remember the artist and correct name of the song. And because this bug changes the file name as well, that reference is of no use.

As I said, I have yet to figure out how this bug is triggered because the Find Album Art feature does work sometimes. Yet even if this mess is largely caused by a stupid user, this is still a very nasty bug. There is NO WAY a media player program should EVER change the name of a file, let alone the name and artist tag on the file itself. There is NO WAY a media player should EVER randomly grab songs and load them under an album name.

As I said, maybe no one uses this feature but me. I certainly won't be using it anymore.

I am sorry to go on and on here but I had to pass this information along. I noticed that there is no obvious way to send feedback to Microsoft for this beta software, so venting here is my outlet.

[Felix Torres]

The Windows Media Connect integration isn't hard to miss. I switched on my Xbox 360 and the player went berserk. :lol:

Overall, Beta 2 is faster and more stable, so I'd recommend all Beta 1 users upgrade as soon as possible.

Did you try the new video file sharing feature?
Not sure if it works via connect or with MCE transports/client, but the word is WMP11 lets the 360 play video without need for MCE.

I'll be looking into this in a couple of days but if you've tried it... ;-)