Windows Media Player 10 (WMP 10) was a digital media player Microsoft developed for use with the Windows operating system. It played both audio and video files of various formats, but was designed specifically with Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video, two proprietary formats owned by Microsoft, in mind. Microsoft no longer develops or supports this version of Windows Media Player.
History
Microsoft released Windows Media Player 10 on October 12, 2004, for both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. All versions of Windows XP included the program until antitrust lawsuits in Europe and Korea forced Microsoft to include versions without the software already installed. Advancements made in WMP 10 over WMP 9 included what Microsoft called a "streamlined" design that purported to simplify the user's media viewing experience. Menus and taskbars were eliminated completely from the command bar, and instead appeared when the user clicked on a "menu" button in the upper-right corner of the window.
Function
In an effort to compete with iTunes, Microsoft included built-in links to several online media stores in WMP 10, letting users buy digital video and audio from within the program. All of these stores sold content in either the Windows Media Audio (WMA) or Windows Media Video (WMV) formats. Digital retailer stores featured in WMP 10 included Napster, MusicNow, MusicMatch, CinemaNow and Audible. The iTunes store, and the music sold in it, was not compatible with Windows Media Player 10.
Features
Windows Media Player 10 could be used to both rip and burn audio CDs. It was also the first version of WMP to be entirely compatible with the MP3 audio format, letting users rip their own audio CDs to the MP3 format in addition to Windows Media Audio. Other file formats WMP 10 supported were WAV audio files, MIDI, MP2, MPA and MPEG. Formats not supported included M4A/M4P, AAC, FLAC and MOV.
Reception
Reception to Windows Media Player by the media was very good. Troy Dreier of "PC Magazine" said that the new interface made the player feel like a full-featured program and not a "freebie utility." Cnet's Jasmine France echoed those sentiments, adding that the player was a "great choice for Windows XP users who want a single jukebox that does it all." However, both reviewers also criticized the player's lack of iPod support and its lack of compatibility with operating systems other than Windows XP.
Significance
Windows Media Player 10 remained Microsoft's flagship media manager and digital content viewer for two years, until Microsoft replaced it with Windows Media Player 11 in October of 2006. That new edition retained and expanded many of the features introduced in WMP 10, and featured improvements such as the ability to rip CDs to WAV files and compatibility with both the Xbox and the Zune Marketplace. As of May 2010, the most recent version of Windows Media Player is version 12, which further streamlined the ripping process and added a more advanced tag editor for media files.
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