Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

Hurmoth on 31 August 2006 - 18:29 · 36 comments & 28489 views

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On Thursday, Microsoft has made available the latest beta version of Windows Media Player, version 11.

WMP11 Beta 2 sports an improved UI, better performance and improved library features. The subscription based service, URGE, is integrated into the client and offers quick and easy downloads of the latest music for $14.95 per month.

URGE is currently being offered as a 14 day trial for a limited period.

Microsoft hopes to attract more people into using WMP11 by offering additional features in the Vista client such as Media Center integration.

Download: Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 (22.5 MB)

View: Windows Media Player 11 | Neowin Forum Discussion

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#1 Destroyer of Nations on 31 Aug 2006 - 18:32

Pretty cool! Any screenshots?

First comment!

#2 guruparan on 31 Aug 2006 - 18:48

Great...I am downloading it right now!....8% complete...

(1 reply) #3 mlerner on 31 Aug 2006 - 18:49

Anyone know if DivX works on this build?

#3.1 jhatcher16 on 31 Aug 2006 - 20:13

Confirmed. Working as always.

#4 guruparan on 31 Aug 2006 - 18:51

And it would be great if wmp11 supports iPod & (will Zune) too....if it supports iPod then a big bat hit for apple..

(3 replies) #5 WindowsNT on 31 Aug 2006 - 18:53

And still no Windows XP x64 version

#5.1 HawkMan on 31 Aug 2006 - 19:24

Gah, annoying.

You'd expect MS to be one of the bets companies to provide x64 support in their apps. but heck no.

the Vista test app, no x64, Desktop search, no x64, WMP11 beta.....

#5.2 skase on 31 Aug 2006 - 22:58

there is 64x support for desktop search

#5.3 embj on 01 Sep 2006 - 05:23

Quote - skase said @ #5.2

there is 64x support for desktop search

w00t! Thank you for posting that! Now, it'll get rid of that annoying friggin' dialog box that pops up every time you start Outlook 2k7. I see it was just released on Aug. 21, too. For anyone who's looking for it, here's a link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

If only they'd bring out the x64 version of WMP11 or let the installer work with x64. I'd prefer the first as we'd be able to use the WMP toolbar again.

#6 xUnix on 31 Aug 2006 - 19:17

i guess the German bloger was right

(2 replies) #7 lerum on 31 Aug 2006 - 20:26

Anyone know what the build number for this is?

#7.1 PamelaJ on 31 Aug 2006 - 20:37

11.0.5705.5043

#7.2 lerum on 31 Aug 2006 - 22:18

cheers, its a little further down the line than mine

(1 reply) #8 njeske on 31 Aug 2006 - 21:44

well... i like the media player, but the URGE integration sucks. during the install, i told it not to install any music store. it installed URGE anyways, along with an URGE folder on my start menu. i deleted the start menu folder, and then when i run WMP11 it tries to re-install URGE thinking the whole installation is gone because of the missing start menu shortcut. then, the URGE install can't find the .msi file needed and asks for it repeatedly completely locking up WMP11. the only way around it is to select a music store other than URGE from within WMP11. i selected the walmart store, and now WMP11 works just fine.

two issues with all this: first, if i say to not install a store, don't install a fricking store. second, even if i did want URGE, i don't need a folder for it on my start menu and deleting that folder shouldn't make WMP11 think it needs to be re-installed. pure stupidity.

#8.1 zachdms on 31 Aug 2006 - 22:32

You will have service data regardless: that's how the player works. The component will not actually be installed if you choose Custom

on't set up a service at this time.

If it has been installed, you can uninstall Urge from Add/Remove Programs and never think about it again.

If you had installed Urge from their site, they had random code that would reinstall them if you deleted the shortcuts. Again, uninstalling them would fix that - and current versions don't do this.

So yeah, they're aware of all this and it should all be fixed now.

(1 reply) #9 Fubar on 31 Aug 2006 - 21:51

where the hell did the radio station stuff go ? last time i used media player was the one that came with xp , hated so i used winamp since then , so i though media player 11 lbeta ets have a look i cant find any raadio station stuff anywhere lol ahh well back to winamp

#9.1 Croquant on 31 Aug 2006 - 22:06

You don't have to pay Microsoft to listen to internet radio.
So they removed that feature and replaced it with "subscription" based services.
Because they are in bed with the RIAA.

(2 replies) #10 upsilon_nz on 31 Aug 2006 - 23:10

Bah, anyone else having an issue with the buttons in the UI staying highlighted although the mouse is nowhere to be seen, seems this has actually gotten worse in the update

#10.1 zachdms on 31 Aug 2006 - 23:59

Is your WMP either located at the top/upper left of your screen, or is it maximized? There was a fix made just post this beta to fix up what I think was your case...

#10.2 OMEGA_RAZER on 05 Sep 2006 - 20:24

Quote - zachdms said @ #10.1

Is your WMP either located at the top/upper left of your screen, or is it maximized? There was a fix made just post this beta to fix up what I think was your case...

Where can this "fix" be found.... mine does the same thing.

#11 StarSabers on 31 Aug 2006 - 23:16

I think something is wrong when a media player is using 116MB's of my systems memory ... and that's just by opening it and going to Urge. *sigh*

It hogged the CPU, but not as long as it did in Beta 1. Now it's just hogging ram.

Maybe it's just the first run though. It can't always use that much ram. That's insane. Great, it's down to 20MB's now.

(2 replies) #12 on 01 Jan 1970 - 00:00

#12.1 superhuman on 01 Sep 2006 - 01:05

I can read it without using glasses. Thank you. hiihihihih

#12.2 Smigit on 01 Sep 2006 - 07:59

I wish I was more important than others so as to deserve my oppinions being bolded in nice bright red fonts.

(1 reply) #13 Qoogirl on 01 Sep 2006 - 03:35

Well, beta 2 is a big leap (unless this feature was there in beta 1?)! I can finally "fast forward" through my AVIs with the arrow keys without using BSPlayer! OK, so this fast forward is a WHOPPING 3 minutes almost (maybe I can change it in the preferences?). Either way, the inability to fast forward and rewind in WMP made me HATE it. It's about time.

#13.1 ~*McoreD*~ on 02 Sep 2006 - 07:44

I wished it could be changed as well, or at least 10 seconds like in jetAudio.

#14 jasondefaoite on 01 Sep 2006 - 03:49

Any sign of media player supporting m4a files out of the box yet? (aac encoded sans DRM). Is m4a tag and embedded album art supported?

#15 Matt Zander on 01 Sep 2006 - 04:22

hope the terrible library bugs are fixed

#16 IGx89 on 01 Sep 2006 - 04:23

Auto playlists now work over UPnP; good news for people with 360's or XBMC

#17 b0m8er on 01 Sep 2006 - 08:47

downloading it right now! thanks for the update (Y)

#18 Inertia on 01 Sep 2006 - 09:16

fantastic improvements, i like a lot of th enew icons, and little touches.

shame we still dont get urge in the UK though

#19 xistor on 01 Sep 2006 - 14:46

wish i could get the playlist to show up when in fullscreen like i could in wmp10

#20 flapjackman176 on 01 Sep 2006 - 16:50

still no x64.. i hate M$

#21 DaViD_BRaNDoN on 01 Sep 2006 - 17:08

Thanks for the heads up. Downloading now...

#22 FirstParadigm on 02 Sep 2006 - 00:41

Broken link as of 8:40 (GMT -5:00)! Damn. I want to see this.

#23 Dessimat0r on 02 Sep 2006 - 22:06

Can't use CTRL-I to take screencaps anymore -- this is annoying.

#24 Magallanes on 04 Sep 2006 - 14:49

What's the reason to use wmp?.

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Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

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