I've been using WMP11 for a while now... kicking the tires so to speak. The new UI is indeed better over the old WMP10... but it's really just a new skin. For me their are a few key areas that you have to fucus on:
- Podcasting Support
- Playlist Scripting
First thing of course as I mentioned in Beta Mania! is Microsoft has completely forgot about podcasting - it's as if it doesn't even exist. This is the one real area they could have OWNED - but Microsoft is apparently asleep at the wheel here. After doing a little research, I decided to use Newsgator, FeedDemon and FeedStation to subscribe, download and shuffle the podcasts over to WMP11. Nowhere near as simple as iTunes. Microsoft! How the hell could you not include podcasting support?!
Anyway, in iTunes I have a PodShow "Smart PlayList" that points to at least 5 other playlists of individual podcasts (Daily Source Code, Pacific Coast Hellway, Digital Flotsam, Creepy Sleepy Show, Accident Hash), and then the overall PlayList is filtered by PlayCount=0 (this way the playlist is dynamic... with new shows coming in, and old shows dropping off the list. I tried replicating this capability in WMP11 with a similar (if real baby-step like) feature called an "Auto PlayList." It wasn't immediately obvious how to create one... but after about 15 minutes I stumbled across it when I right-clicked the PlayList folder. The resulting dialog is really, really weak - you can't point at other playlists... and pick lists don't appear to show podcast artists when you limit by Artist (it's just inexplicably missing!). Microsoft?! How the hell could you have so weak an Auto Playlist Builder?! I'm just stunned that WMP11 falls flat on its face with such a BASIC feature.
So to recap, WMP11 will not manage & download my podcasts, nor can I script my own Auto PlayList to sync up to an MP3 player for podcasting on the go (which is the whole point).
And yes, I listen to music too... but far, far less than listening to audiobooks (both commercial and public, podiobooks & podcasts. Playback works (at the least)... but of course, MP3s have no bookmarking capability by default, and WMP11 naturally doesn't care about such things. End result - don't switch to another file before finishing the one you're on. Otherwise you'll have to remember where you left off, and advance the MP3. That's just CRAP.
First Impression: WMP11 is a warmed over WMP10 (let's face it, there has been no substantive change since WMP5). And it adds nothing I'm looking for at all. Microsoft has not only failed to deliver a compelling product, it's downright abysmal. It's no wonder the iPod is so popular - iTunes majorly kicks WMP's ass feature-wise (even though iTunes for Windows continues to have incredibly POOR performance). Oh well, at least it hasn't bombed on me completely like both IE7b2 and FireFox 1.5.04 seems to do every once in a while.
posted @ Friday, June 09, 2006 8:58 PM