Programmers on Friday released a software addition for AOL Time Warner"s Winamp media player that adds controls to the title bar of Windows applications, a move that apparently ignores Microsoft"s interface guidelines for third-party software developers.
Test versions of the Winamp plug-in add displays and buttons to reserved areas on desktop applications in Windows XP, Windows 2000 and other recent versions of the operating system. The control allows people to pause, play and scroll through music playlists. It also automatically appears on whatever window happens to display an active application, whether it"s a browser, an e-mail program or even Microsoft"s competing Windows Media Player.
Normally, Microsoft strictly limits the use of the title bar in the interests of creating a standard look and feel for all applications that run on its Windows OS. The space generally carries buttons in the upper right-hand corner to resize, close or collapse an application window, as well as some limited information about an application or file in the upper left-hand corner.
Brennan Underwood, principle software engineer at AOL Time Warner"s Nullsoft division, said the company had no part in creating the plug-in.
"We (Nullsoft) didn"t write this plug-in," Underwood wrote in an email. "It"s a third-party plug-in we were previously only barely aware of."
While Nullsoft said it has no part in the plug-in, it has sought greater control over consumers on the desktop in the past: Winamp and other media players have long prompted people to set a default application that will launch with attempts to play certain file types, such as MP3s. As a result, people who use multiple players may find themselves repeatedly pestered to switch between products.