Download Windows Media Player 11 Beta

Microsoft is currently working on a new version of Windows Media Player. If you like the program and use it on your system, or just want to take a look at it to see what has changed, you can do so by downloading the latest beta version from the Microsoft website. The player is available for download at the Microsoft website. I found a list of the new features, not sure if it is correct though:

Features in WMP 11 for XP (June 06):

• New UI
• Support for better synchronization for portable devices
• Album stacks of album art
• Indexed libraries with search-as-you-type features
• User controlled downgrade of quality for DRM content to allow for smaller files
• DRM content will contain metadata that shows what the user is allowed to do with the file
• Includes Microsoft and MTV’s Urge music store

Features in WMP 11 for Vista (Early 07):

• Everything that is in the WMP 11 for XP
• Playing content (including DRM) on your PC from another PC or device
• Viewing content from the Vista Media library on other PCs or digital devices, such as Tivo
• Playback of High Value video content
• Shell integration with Windows Media Player
• Content Indexer change notification to sync My Music and WMP library
• DVD Fullscreen playback enhancements
• DRM Transcode
• High quality video streaming over home networks
• Media foundation for playback

Update: Windows Media Player 11 final has been released. It can be downloaded from the Microsoft website linked above. Please note that Windows Media Player 11 is included in Windows Vista and Windows 7, and that the program does not need to be downloaded separately because of this. Windows XP users can upgrade their version of the program from the Microsoft website though.

Microsoft has also made available Windows Media Components for Quicktime on Mac OS X, and a Firefox add-on called Windows Media Player ActiveX control.

Update 2: Microsoft has released Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 7. The company is not making available the new version of the media player for Windows Vista or Windows XP. Users of those operating systems can still download and use Windows Media Player 11 though.