Microsoft out with Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

Microsoft's Windows Media Player hasn't been around as long as Apple's QuickTime, but the Redmond company has been working furiously to make it the biggest, baddest, and above all most dominant media player on the block. Version 7, released in 2000, was the first "bells and whistles" version that offered all sorts of extra goodies such as CD ripping and visualizations. Version 8 arrived with the release of Windows XP a year later, 9 arrived in 2003, and version 10 came along with XP SP1.

Now, Microsoft has released Beta 2 of WMP 11 and is anxious to spread the word as quickly as possible. The new version is available for US customers (international versions will arrive later) and requires Windows XP (Home, Pro, Tablet, or Media Center Edition) and Service Pack 2 (Update Rollup 2 for Media Center 2005). The download is not available for users running the beta or Release Candidate of Windows Vista, but that is not surprising: Vista comes with WMP 11 already by default.

The new player was designed with user feedback from previous versions in mind. Gone are many of the extraneous curvy user interface elements, in favor of a sleeker design. As in previous versions, various tools are arranged into tabbed sections at the top of the window, such as Now Playing, Library, Rip, Burn, Sync, and making its debut in the default configuration, the online music store URGE.

Microsoft is clearly, one might even say URGEntly, pushing this new download service as a rival to Apple's iTunes Music Store. However, the store, developed in partnership with MTV, lacks the polish of its rival.