New Features to Vista!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Jan 2007, 21:04

An interesting read, very in-depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_n ... dows_Vista

WMP 6.4 Dropped: I'm glad I read it as I use WMP 6.4.

I'll have to copy it across from an XP installation. I still use the DOS DELTREE command which hasn't been in Windows since Windows ME.

Sure MPC is pretty much WMP6.4 but I find it too cluttered. WMP6.4 has everything I need with no cluttered menus. The menus are clear and give easy access to the features I want.

I only use it for Video playing. It's awful for Audio playing.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 23 Jan 2007, 00:27

Why would you use that instead of Windows Media Player 11?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jan 2007, 01:48

gasteropod wrote:Why would you use that instead of Windows Media Player 11?

Because like I said:

WMP6.4 has everything I need with no cluttered menus. The menus are clear and give easy access to the features I want. I just want to be able to playback videos with fast forward/rewind and full screen option + 100%/200% zoom not muck about with visualisation, skins etc....

WMP11 is definitely bloated in comparison.

WMP11 is excellent as an audio library (prior to v11 it was awful though) though but cluttered and bloated for video playback. The exact same codecs are used for both so compatibility isn't an issue.

Tom uses it too

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jan 2007, 01:50

Speaking of Vista.

IE7 under Vista will run in Protected Mode meaning it will prevent any web application from accessing any folder on your computer except the cache (and one would presume cookies too).

This will have to make it much more secure than Firefox under Vista. Not that it would stop me using FF in the slightest.

Unrealnils · Post by **Unrealnils** » 23 Jan 2007, 09:55

I normally just use vlc media player or the wmp embedded into media center

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Jan 2007, 11:23

I dropped WMP 6.4 two months ago.
Now I'm using Media Player Classic for pretty much everything.

... and I wouldn't touch WMP 10 or 11 with a barge pole.

Bradavon wrote:Sure MPC is pretty much WMP6.4 but I find it too cluttered.

When playing MP3s, they both look pretty much the same:

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 23 Jan 2007, 11:55

Yup MPC was designed to look like that, that why it was called Media Player Classic

I use this alongside VLC, and do prefer them to M$

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 23 Jan 2007, 13:29

I use MPC + CCCP + fddshow + QT Alternative Lite + Real Alternative Lite exclusively for video.

For music I use WMP9. Very easy to use, I love the library. They made the GUI shitty with WMP10 so I avoided it.

FYI Brad, you can grab old versions of WMP here.
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=wmp

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jan 2007, 19:20

tom2681 wrote:When playing MP3s, they both look pretty much the same

I wouldn't use either to play music as neither have a minimise to system tray feature and are far to basic. That's crucial as I leave it running.

I meant more the right click menu has stacks of features I really don't need. I only use it for playing DVDs and then I only ever put DVDs in my PC to Rip or create Captures (hence why I've no need for PowerDVD).

When I get a laptop I'll put PowerDVD on though.

IMO Video has a different need to Audio. Video just needs a basic front end but Audio is better with some kind of library. Even though ID3 Tags are a pain in the neck.

I wish you could set WMP to use Folder View instead of ID3 Tags.

Unrealnils wrote:I normally just use vlc media player or the wmp embedded into media center

VLC has THE best file type support but the UI sucks.

EvaUnit02 wrote:I use MPC + CCCP + fddshow + QT Alternative Lite + Real Alternative Lite exclusively for video.

What's CCCP?

None of those AFAIK are players, all are codecs and drivers. I use Real Alternative too but don't mind QuickTime so just use that for QT stuff. Real Player the software is attrociously bad and bloated.

Version 7-10 of WMP were clunky, bloated and awful. I used Winamp until WMP11 was released. I really like WMP11 it's a massive improvement. It's still OTT for video though.

EvaUnit02 wrote:For music I use WMP9. Very easy to use, I love the library. They made the GUI shitty with WMP10 so I avoided it.

It's exactly the same isn't it? Give WMP11 a go. I really love the Album Art view.

EvaUnit02 wrote:FYI Brad, you can grab old versions of WMP here.
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=wmp

Great thanks Eva. Top site.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jan 2007, 19:26

So is anyone else looking forward to getting Vista or is it just me?

I'd put it on my Desktop PC but there's no point when I'll be selling it over the next 2-3 months for a new Laptop.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Jan 2007, 22:41

From what I've seen, Vista is quite heavy.
I'll start using it the next time I upgrade my PC (late 2007).

I don't like change, anyway.
Installed XP on my PC for the first time in mid-2004.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 24 Jan 2007, 17:15

WMP 11 I just recently upgraded to, worst mistake ever! now a load of things wont run and my MP3 player wont even connect to my PC anymore as its outdated and the drivers wont work, even the new ones

cannot even roll back as it has ruined everything. Bugger. I had WMP10 running fine, 11 is another matter.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 24 Jan 2007, 17:17

romerojpg wrote:WMP 11 I just recently upgraded to, worst mistake ever! now a load of things wont run and my MP3 player wont even connect to my PC anymore as its outdated and the drivers wont work, even the new ones cannot even roll back as it has ruined everything. Bugger. I had WMP10 running fine, 11 is another matter.

One thing I know from someone is that even if you close WMP11, it does not clear itself from memory, it is still kept there, therefore making your o/s very slow.. I hope they fix this

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 24 Jan 2007, 17:48

Crieky wish I ahd neevr bothered with it until all them bugs are gone, which knowing them will be maybe 3 years time.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 24 Jan 2007, 19:05

slasher13 wrote:One thing I know from someone is that even if you close WMP11, it does not clear itself from memory, it is still kept there, therefore making your o/s very slow.. I hope they fix this

I'm pretty sure that isn't the case on my laptop.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2007, 20:48

tom2681 wrote:From what I've seen, Vista is quite heavy.

Meh! 2Gb of RAM you'll be fine. RAM costs peanuts.

XP needs more power than 98/Me. Same thing.

tom2681 wrote:Installed XP on my PC for the first time in mid-2004.

Please say you were running 2000 prior to that?

slasher13 wrote:One thing I know from someone is that even if you close WMP11, it does not clear itself from memory, it is still kept there, therefore making your o/s very slow.. I hope they fix this

I've not noticed that too. It is a common problem with programs that use lots of resources though. In most cases it just needs a wee bit longer to close down.

It's been an issue with Outlook ever since I can remember.

romerojpg wrote:now a load of things wont run and my MP3 player wont even connect to my PC anymore as its outdated and the drivers wont work

Yes you can roll back (just uninstall WMP11 and install WMP10) but tbh you just need to upgrade the MP3 Player Firmware.

I get exactly the same message with my SmartPhone but I don't care as I can't stand Audio Synchronizing. It's annoying though as every time I open it and my mobile is connected it warns me again.

My MP3 Player maybe compatible with WMP11 or may not I don't know and don't care. I use Explorer plus Drag and Drop.

romerojpg wrote:Crieky wish I ahd neevr bothered with it until all them bugs are gone, which knowing them will be maybe 3 years time.

Don't assume one persons problems means a bug. There is no such thing as a bug free or for that matter problem free software.

It will work for thousands and one person has a problem, the whole world will then stay away (speaking generally). WMP10 has bugs too.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2007, 20:51

Back on topic I never meant the entire topic to turn into an Audio Manager thread.

So who else is getting Vista? Looking through that article it's stacked with new and exciting features. I'd normally wait about 3-6 months but seeing as I am getting a new laptop I'd be dumb to pay and get XP on it.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Jan 2007, 21:01

Tom&Brad wrote:-Installed XP on my PC for the first time in mid-2004.
-Please say you were running 2000 prior to that?

... 98SE.

Meh! 2Gb of RAM you'll be fine. RAM costs peanuts.

Peanuts must be quite expensive where you live.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2007, 21:19

tom2681 wrote:... 98SE.

My god!

Peanuts must be quite expensive where you live.

Yep

Seriously it's cheap.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jan 2007, 13:20

brad wrote:It's exactly the same isn't it? Give WMP11 a go. I really love the Album Art view.

God no. They radically changed the GUI between WMP9 and 10. I hated 10's GUI.

What's CCCP?

The Combined Communities Codec Pack. An fddshow filter pack optimised specifically for playing any and all fansub distributions available. Maximum compatibility and the least resource use.

None of those AFAIK are players, all are codecs and drivers.

No shit Sherlock. I'm using them in combination with MPC, hence the pluses.

bradavon wrote:
tom2681 wrote:... 98SE.
My god!

98SE was great. It had the best compatibility for games, Win2k sucked hard in that regard. Now WinME was a piece of shit - oh yes let's kill REAL MODE DOS, even though the OS still uses DOS as a base.

bradavon wrote:So who else is getting Vista?

I do. Plan on putting it on the new Macintosh ASAP (which should be arriving on Mon/Tues). I don't like the prospect of having to familiarising myself with a completely alien OS - MacOS X 10.5.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Feb 2007, 23:47

Late reply I know, but:

Re: MPC

Brad wrote:I wouldn't use either to play music as neither have a minimise to system tray feature and are far to basic.

MPC can be minimized to tray.
Options - Player - Tray Icon.

But yes, it's basic.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 13 Feb 2007, 01:50

Cheap Vista for anyone that wants it. Well, cheaper than the standard price, at least.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Feb 2007, 20:50

Thanks Tom that is worth knowing. It's still not a patch on WMP11's Library though.

For me an audio player needs to have pretty much completely different options to a video player. WMP can also library video but I only use it to library audio, there is no tagging in videos or photos.