Safe replacement for Win Media Player

Windows Media Player's inadequate notification to users that it is in mute mode, WMP has been also criticized for:
-communicating to Microsoft about the user's usage of it
-installing with a unique identifier that could be abused to violate privacy.
Steps were taken by Microsoft to address these concerns after these issues were raised.

I undertand that the latest version, WMP 9, incorportates a method of protecting copywrite that will be proprietary to Microsoft. Apparently the business plan is that Microsoft would like to lever its presence on the majority of desktops to induce recording companies to use their coding when creating CDs because their coding would result in WMP 9 refusing to play copies of these CDs.

Some folks who create free software available for the asking have made a knockoff of WMP that they call Media Player Classic. It is based on what they consider the best version of WMP but which does not have security or privacy issues and which they claim because of its capabilities and features is a better player. You can read more about it here.

http://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=18591&group_id=82303

It can be installed by only placing it in a folder. Removing it involves merely deleting the folder. As the above linked document indicates, it can also be installed in place of WMP. I think this is quite ingenious in light of Microsoft's advisory that once you install WMP 9 you cannot go back to previous versions.

 

Hi,

I agree that mpc 6.4.x.x player is awesome. I think about half of the users out there would find it a big improvement. For years I have tried to do to wmp like i done to windows messenger. The problem is...xp has given users a lot of free functionality with wmp-9. For instance, i have a slick ultralight mp3 player that uses builtin memory. The whole player weighs only about 3 ounces! wmp-9 is the only FREE aplication out there that supports it with a plugin allowing you to download to it!

well, unless you count Real...(don't go there!)

But its easy to hate wmp-9. during installation it asks you politely if you will help them by allowing...to identify you...help content providers... help you to help yourself...

of course you say no, of course the first time you run a spy ware product there is wmp-9 sending out your unique ID.

for those who are device tied to wmp-9 there is some hope. Sveta-Illustrate has a very large library of plugins that work with dBPowerAMP. It's annoyance is that its hard to figure out which part is free and which part isnt. I did break one of my personal taboos and use the trial version. IT IS SO COOL! only i never did figure out what was free and what wasnt...i slunk back to wmp-9.

dBPowerAMP has a beautiful and unique way of managing the music you want to load on to your portable. you select the songs, it records them. i suspect that wmp-9 thinks it is doing you a favor when it hides your songs and then only dispenses them every now and then so you wont get tired of them!

next time i dump wmp-9 it will be for good!