The Hotfix have recently just posted an article revealing some exciting information regarding the next version of Windows Media Player.
"I have some information about release dates on WMP 11 for XP that no one else has. This info was obtained from a Microsoft employee who I can"t name but was able to give me this info. If you know other MS employees, they may be able to confirm this info by digging a little bit through Microsoft"s internal knowledge base (employees only)
Microsoft is planning a Public Preview Beta of Windows Media Player 11 for XP on Wednesday, May 17th.
The final RTM release is scheduled for late June 06."
Here is a list of features that will and will not be in the XP version:
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