Microsoft has just released Windows Media Player 11 beta 2
WMP 11 is the most significant release of WMP after WMP 8, cos mostly WMP 9 & 10 were cosmetic updates. The codecs however jumped a lot
WMP 11 is available for users running legal version of Windows XP SP2 or later only, it will not install on Vista beta builds. It comes with improved WMA 10 Pro codecs & WMV 10 codec, which sets it on par with AAC
U can download it
directly from here 23 MB
It requires internet connection to install, however there are workaround as wel
__________
just installed & it works fine here. The new beta 2 About dialog is shown here
The icons have changed a lot, & look much better now
When u play videos online now, the player which is embeded in the webpage now has WMP11 look & feel
The file type icons have individual icons for each file type,but these icons need some serious change, they are quite small
Those who do not have internet connection while installing, such as college or hostal, can not install as such, cos WMP 11 beta 2 downloads
Windows User mode driver framework 1.0 beta 2 while it is installing, it is not bundled with the downloaded installer
To manually install WMP 11
1) Go to control Panel, & uninstall
Windows User mode driver framework pre-relese 5384 now reboot
2) Now, extract all the files in the downloaded file using WinZIP or WinRAR
3) Install wmdbexport.exe -> then WMFdist.exe & reboot
4) Now after reboot install the WMP11.exe
5) After this, u need to install the new version of user mode driver framework (beta 2), which u can
download from here
Windows Media Player 11 beta 2 Relesed : A user review
Linear Mode
