14 Million downloads of WMP9 in first month

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Windows Media Player 9 Series Shatters Jukebox Download Records With 14 Million Downloads Worldwide in First Month

Microsoft Corp. today released download statistics that show record-breaking consumer demand for the new Microsoft® Windows Media® Player 9 Series and Windows® Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP in their first month of availability. 14 million downloads of Windows Media Player 9 Series were recorded worldwide in just 30 days -- a rate of over 5 downloads every second. This shatters the previous record for downloads of digital music jukebox software, held by Windows Media Player 7 -- nearly doubling the number of downloads in the first 30 days. Based on data unveiled today, a key driver behind this momentum is the high level of customer satisfaction.

"These kinds of download volumes are truly amazing. Clearly the high satisfaction expressed by beta users of Windows Media Player 9 Series has resulted in massive interest and adoption," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "This kind of response shows the breakthrough new digital media experiences we designed for Windows XP have clearly struck a chord with our customers around the world."

News source: Microsoft Presspass

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#1 Justin03248 on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:31

ya, well they finally fixed the aspect ratio and horrible sound quality problems from version 8. Of course everyone downloaded. Now, if we can only stop websites to stop making 300 k streams and instead give us high quality trailers like LOTR: The Two Towers in surround sound, MP 9 will take over the world.

#2 Spyder on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:31

w00t i was one of them

(2 replies) #3 Justin03248 on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:33

man, MP 8 was the worst sounding player ever (shuders)

sorry, i couldn't resist a second post, but it was sooo terrible. I mean, how many peole used MP 6.4 cause 8 sounded like total crap? MP 9 sound better than both of them !

#3.1 Spyder on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:37

[neoquote=#3.0 by Justin03248]man, MP 8 was the worst sounding player ever (shuders)

[/neoquote] wmpxp (

sounded fine on my PC? but ya..WMP9 is definately better

#3.2 y_notm on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:59

[neoquote=#3.0 by Justin03248]sorry, i couldn't resist a second post, but it was sooo terrible. I mean, how many peole used MP 6.4 cause 8 sounded like total crap? [/neoquote] how do they sound different at all if they use the same codecs?

(1 reply) #4 The D on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:36

Sorry but I don't like version 9. You can't set video to fill the screen in windowed mode (only get 100%, 200%, etc.) and when in full screen half the time the controls don't fade away like they're supposed to. I know these are picky things but they weren't a problem in the last version and they annoy me to no end in the new one.

#4.1 CoolShady2002 on 07 Feb 2003 - 03:25

1 Right-click on the video you are playing, click on Video Size, then click on 'Fit Video to Player on Resize' 2 Click on Tools then Options. Click on the Performance tab and then click on advanced. Uncheck display full-screen controls. I obviously didnt read the post below

#5 ClintEastman on 06 Feb 2003 - 18:43

Hay D, Try TweakMP for your fading controles prob; [url]http://www.wmplugins.com/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemID=171[/url] And tick the 2 "fit video" settings in video size, see if that sorts it. There's so much in 9, have a good old root around and see what you can find!!! Oh and don't forget all the plugins! [url]http://www.wmplugins.com[/url]

#6 Brunation on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:11

since we're at it, is there a way to set WMP9 to automatic get file info for mp3 from the web wille the song is been played, and fill out the blanks??? Mine only does that if tell it too by right clicking on it!

#7 tntomek on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:13

I have the same problem as D, And that TweakMP doesnt really help. you have resize the video and then resize again to get it the way you want it, It's really anoying it doesnt just fit to screen of the bat. ANyone knwo of a patch?

(1 reply) #8 sup191 on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:17

Of course tons of people downloaded it... Almost everyone with XP checks for windows updates every now and then, and when they see something listed as an update, they just click to install it.

#8.1 Spyder on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:33

[neoquote=#8.0 by sup191]Of course tons of people downloaded it... Almost everyone with XP checks for windows updates every now and then, and when they see something listed as an update, they just click to install it.[/neoquote] of course. i mean, why did we even bother posting this? gosh creamy! lol j/k

(2 replies) #9 Yakkob on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:49

Heh, I aint one of 'em.. Funny how they release these statistics just when they are trying to get all off hollywood etc to use their DRM technology. Stats are bullshit anyways, what with automatic updates etc..

#9.1 Spyder on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:57

as far as i know, automatic update only downloads critical updates...wmp9 wasn't a critical update. so in that case i suppose it could be argued that even if people downloaded it off windows update, they had to choose to do it..in which case it should count, right?

#9.2 JeremyCDay on 06 Feb 2003 - 19:58

umm, last time i checked, automatic updates only worked for critical updates, so people either manually went to windows update or downloaded it straight from microsoft btw why have automatic updating turned on i find it more annoying then anything else, when you install a hotfix via windows update and later on in the day you see automatic update wanting you to install the same patch again

(2 replies) #10 CheeseCow on 06 Feb 2003 - 20:13

This one really pisses me off. Yeah, I like that they have improved their codecs, and Movie Maker 2 is a lot of fun. But WMP8 & 9 is both bloated pieces of crap. I can't get MediaPlayer 6.4"mplayer2" to open & play correctly, the files just opens in WMP. All I want is a SIMPLE movie player, that is fast & rock stable. And that should Microsoft have shipped as the default player in WindowsXP. I can't play music in WMP while playing games, it just stutters. The crossfading uses all of the CPU and the visualizers look like shit. I have spent a lot of time & money to get my CD's to my HDD's. The result is a DB which probably is too large for WMP to handle, but my 20 000 files is no problem for WinAMP 2, even searching is lightning fast. And one last thing that never stops amazing me. Why can't they use their own default controls? OfficeXP have it's own look, and the default media player in WindowsXP does the same. So when I apply a cool theme, these applications doesn't follow. The sad thing is that if there weren't any WinAMP 2 in this world, I'd probably use WMP9 right now. Even if it uses 190 MB RAM just to play a tune.

And for the coolest sleekest movie player for Windows, try [url=http://www.bsplayer.org]BsPlayer[/url]. It is fast, and using a DVD or trailer as a desktop background is way cool!

#10.1 danbalsh on 06 Feb 2003 - 20:40

[neoquote=#10.0 by CheeseCow]This one really pisses me off. Yeah, I like that they have improved their codecs, and Movie Maker 2 is a lot of fun. But WMP8 & 9 is both bloated pieces of crap. I can't get MediaPlayer 6.4"mplayer2" to open & play correctly, the files just opens in WMP. All I want is a SIMPLE movie player, that is fast & rock stable. And that should Microsoft have shipped as the default player in WindowsXP. I can't play music in WMP while playing games, it just stutters. The crossfading uses all of the CPU and the visualizers look like shit. I have spent a lot of time & money to get my CD's to my HDD's. The result is a DB which probably is too large for WMP to handle, but my 20 000 files is no problem for WinAMP 2, even searching is lightning fast. And one last thing that never stops amazing me. Why can't they use their own default controls? OfficeXP have it's own look, and the default media player in WindowsXP does the same. So when I apply a cool theme, these applications doesn't follow. The sad thing is that if there weren't any WinAMP 2 in this world, I'd probably use WMP9 right now. Even if it uses 190 MB RAM just to play a tune.

[/neoquote] There a REALLY simple soloution to your problem, DON'T USE EM

#10.2 Fubar on 06 Feb 2003 - 20:44

[/neoquote] works fine for me maybe your hardware is carp or even yet maybe the software on your pc carp either way im sure its fixable but hey blind lead the blind

Btw my media player 9 oonly uses 50mb while playing dvd's and divxs and even less while playing mp3's and cds :/ so maybe its your system

#11 CheeseCow on 06 Feb 2003 - 20:50

Just to say something nice, I think it's positive that people are quick to use new/updated technologies. It means that we will get more cool stuff quicker. Can't wait for my GeForce4 4800SE. I'm sure I can OC it far past your weak FX version. And Unreal 2 isn't as good as UT2k3.

(2 replies) #12 nacs on 06 Feb 2003 - 23:45

Media Player 6.4 (located on Windows systems now as 'mplayer2.exe') is by far the best media player MS ever released in my opinion. It was small, fast and played everything you wanted it to. Versions 7,8, and 9 have been nothing but bloat, ugly skins, slow startup, buggy code and DRM/privacy limitations.

#12.1 jizness on 07 Feb 2003 - 10:38

Exactly, the only people who are "schemed" into using WMP9 are those whom use AOL as there ISP

#12.2 JaggedFlame on 07 Feb 2003 - 13:53

Would it kill you to take five minutes to notice that DRM IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL? Oh, and on my system, WMP 9 loads faster than mplayer2. Fancy that.

#13 nic on 06 Feb 2003 - 23:59

Well lets see. I think I account for at least 3 of those downloads. Seems like very time I run the program I get a "There is an update you should upgrade to NOW!" or something along those lines. WMP9 is good for video files, but I won't use it for MP3s..its all about Winamp 2

#14 mintll on 07 Feb 2003 - 00:00

I don't want to see another Netscape/IE situaltion I may od Downloaded WMP9 I have also downloaded Real1 as well.

#15 Mindspin on 07 Feb 2003 - 00:40

This makes me laugh.. I love the spin they put on it. Perhaps Microsoft should look at it a different way. Maybe so many people downloaded this because they were unhappy with version 8 and were hoping to have some problems fixed! Of course, that would be the logical reason, but Microsoft wouldn't write that one down in a press release.

#16 CoolShady2002 on 07 Feb 2003 - 03:30

Windows Media Player 9 is IMO the most dissapointing Media Player release ever. I only use it cos of the miniplayer and some of the other bloated junk.

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