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#1
Why are media players so awful?
I have used various media players and most of them are awful.
My favourite media player is WMP 10!
WMP 10
The layout isn't too bad and there are only a few haphazard control/option placements.
The library is reasonably easy to use.
This player is the one I use in XP.
Winamp
The control/option placements are fairly haphazard.
Updating track info in the library has to be done one track at a time.
This is the player I use in Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit).
WMP12
This player is awful.
The control/option placements are totally haphazard (scattered over several windows).
It has horrible problems (e.g. it refuses to obey instructions/settings).
There are many web pages about its bad behaviour.
The library isn't too bad.
I refuse to use this player because of the problems it has caused me.
See this thread for examples:
Stop media updating
VLC
The control/option placements are fairly haphazard.
The Playlist and Media library are awful.
I only use this player for rmvb files.
Media Player Classic
It's not particularly user friendly.
In April or May, something changed on my XP and Windows 7 installations and it couldn't play rmvb files correctly (video OK, audio broken).
See this thread:
Did MS patches (May) break rmvb support in MPC?
It doesn't really have Playlists or a Media library.
I use this player for all my videos (except rmvb) in XP and Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit).
Real Player
The installer is horrible.
The installation scatters files all over my HDD (requiring me to conduct "search & destroy" missions).
Updates require a complete reinstall (i.e. it doesn't remember any of the previous installation settings).
It always hijacks my file extensions even when I tell it not to.
The control/option placements are fairly haphazard.
The library isn't too bad.
It seems to have a good CD database.
I use this player for ripping CDs.
WMC
I find navigation is difficult.
The control/option placements are fairly haphazard.
Overall it's not too bad, but I don't use it.
I have also tried other programs at various times in the past:
- GOM Player
- DivX
- Aktiv Player
- jetAudio Basic
- Music Match
- SMX
Does anybody else have any media player horror stories? What are your favourite media players?![]()