Yesterday Microsoft introduced its new media player, Windows Media 9. According to chairman Bill Gates the software will be a milestone in digital entertainment. Obviously a very objective statement.
Microsoft has been working on the project for 4 years at a cost of about $500 million. There are many novelties and a few of them will certainly interest our visitors.
To change current attitudes toward piracy, Gates proposed making content available digitally in a way consumers could easily pay for it. He also stressed education, the enforcement of copyright laws and wider use of piracy prevention software.
Like its predecessor, Windows Media Player 9 offers only limited support for MP3 files, unless the consumer pays for an add-in product. The media program will play MP3s but won't rip files in the format without extra costs and third-party components from CyberLink or InterVideo. As it did with Windows Media Player 8, Roxio provides the CD-burning engine.
The software behemoth also has beefed up consumer privacy, giving consumers control over whether Internet sites can identify the player and whether Windows Media Player 9 can track CD and DVD song history, among other features.
Microsoft also improved digital rights management, which could be important for PressPlay and other premium services provider. Consumers can now back up the licenses for the songs they purchase so they are not lost should the PC hard drive become corrupted or infected with a virus.
There are many more changes and I suggest you read the entire article. To me it seems that Microsoft has taken a good look at its competitors like Winamp, Real Networks and iTunes.
A beta version is available for download. Thanks to Eran for the download information.
Source: C|Net
