Windows Media Player 12 Sucks Eggs

[Darician]

To be fair, in the beginning, I bashed WMP 12 as much as some people here have done. I sort of still prefer the design of WMP 11 but have grown to like WMP 12 as it includes GPU Acceleration for all video playback and its playback interface as well as Library Management is very good.

The real problem was that when I searched for a replacement for WMP 12 in the time I bashed it, other software I tried came up really short, VLC due to its interface, Foobar2000 due to its limitation of being an audio only player, and others due to similar limitations. I personally do not like to have three of four or pieces of software to do the functions that one piece of software integrated can do and that was the real problem when looking into replacements as the only piece of software that I could find to replace WMP 12 was WMP 11 and I figured, I'd just get used to WMP 12, which when you really get down to it is a good piece of software.

The problem I found with other players was their limited scope, which for their releases and intended audience are just fine but I like to have an all-in-one solution and most of the alternative players wouldn't work for me. This is a subjective opinion of WMP 12.

 

[Chimel]

Of course you get used to the limitations and working around the bugs after a while.
I love WMP12 even despite those, that's why I can afford to bash it, because I want Microsoft to take these criticisms into account and improve WMP, there is still a lot of room or reasons for improvements. Just saying...

Adding new features is also no excuse for dropping good ones or introducing regression bugs (compared to WMP11), so I think it's our job to keep on bashing constructively until Microsoft takes the hint, even if it requires provocative thread titles. ^-^

WMP library management is great indeed, but there are little things that could be improved at little cost, like a tag editor (partially present in WMP11), the ability to use these tags, for instance to playback all 5-star songs from a specific genre or artist. The tags are basically totally useless meta-information if you can't do anything out of them. Some easily fixable bugs about artwork too.

When you have a really big and eclectic library, you are very limited in your playback options. I get too much music to waste hours every week creating or editing fixed playlists, I'd rather combine several tags to create dynamical playlists.

Like you, I would also like to use WMP12 as an integrated solution for all my media needs, but where's the "Radios" section in the left bar? I ended up entering radio URLs in the "Playlists" section, one playlist per radio. Where's also blu-ray playback? WMP12 can play SD DVDs.

Why is WMP mono-session? I use VLC and/or KMP only because it's the only way to pause my WMP music playback while I check out a small video. I'd rather watch it in a separate WMP session or in the same session if I could pause and resume my current playback without losing it, which sounds like a very basic common sense idea. And the ranting goes on and on...

 

[whoopu4free]

I'm having an issue deleting albums.

I have deleted the files from my music folder, and cleared the recycle bin. And WMP 12 deleted half of them and left the rest in there but of course they dont play because they have been deleted. Why does it refuse to delete those songs? It is very annoying and it's like it doesnt respond at all. I've tried to delete it 50 times. Anyone know how to fix this?

 

[Seven Eleven]

Why is WMP mono-session? I use VLC and/or KMP only because it's the only way to pause my WMP music playback while I check out a small video. I'd rather watch it in a separate WMP session or in the same session if I could pause and resume my current playback without losing it, which sounds like a very basic common sense idea.

This. That's why I use foobar2000 for audio and MPC for video. One player just can't do everything properly.

 

[pat247]

I have deleted the files from my music folder, and cleared the recycle bin. And WMP 12 deleted half of them and left the rest in there but of course they dont play because they have been deleted. Why does it refuse to delete those songs? It is very annoying and it's like it doesnt respond at all. I've tried to delete it 50 times. Anyone know how to fix this?

Songs that won't play because it has been deleted will get a blue circle with an exclamation point to the left of the title when highlighted. Right click on the blue circle to get a submenu with the option to delete.

 

[Darician]

The mono-session concept you mentioned Chimel is actually something I completely forgot about. I sometimes would like to pause one thing while I play another. The preview function does it in regard to audio to a certain extent though I've never tried it for video (don't know if it even works).

But yeah, some features shouldn't have been dropped from WMP 11. I'm still not a big fan of switch between two windows to watch my videos and manage my library. I've grown used to it but would prefer to have one integrated interface again like WMP 11.

 

[Petey7]

All my tag info has been taken care of automatically for the most part until now. I ripped a old CD I burned years ago, with songs by different artist and from different albums by those artists. So I went to use tag editing for the first time since I started using Windows 7. Now I have to ask, of all the features to get rid of, why tag editing. I'm currently installing WMP11 in XP Mode so I can use the function again. I know there are third party tag editors, but I really liked the one in WMP11. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[mitrich]

Petey 7

I quite agree with you about the stupidity of dumping Advanced Tag Editor. However, with Hidden and System Files shown, one can do all of the tagging necessary in Windows Explorer through the album's Properties.

 

[Petey7]

Petey 7

I quite agree with you about the stupidity of dumping Advanced Tag Editor. However, with Hidden and System Files shown, one can do all of the tagging necessary in Windows Explorer through the album's Properties.

I swear that was not working yesterday. I bet I know what the problem was. I probably went through the Music Library instead of going to the actual file location.

 

[noobvious]

All my tag info has been taken care of automatically for the most part until now. I ripped a old CD I burned years ago, with songs by different artist and from different albums by those artists. So I went to use tag editing for the first time since I started using Windows 7. Now I have to ask, of all the features to get rid of, why tag editing. I'm currently installing WMP11 in XP Mode so I can use the function again. I know there are third party tag editors, but I really liked the one in WMP11. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'd take Mp3tag - the universal Tag Editor (ID3v2, MP4, OGG, FLAC, ...) over the tag editor in any WMP, any day.

 

[Darician]

MediaMonkey is also pretty good for editing tags.

 

[Chimel]

That's all fine and dandy, but pretty much useless unless you can select these tag values in your playlist or direct playback and combine them together, like:

Mood="Groovy" and ( (Ratings=5*) or (Ratings=4*) )

I started tagging in Vista/WMP11 but soon stopped because I could not use this meta-information for playback, even in WMP11.

And the tags are still a fixed list, not sure if ID3 supports adding your own tags, or if you can use keywords in the Comments tag for specific usage, like:

Genre="Celtic" and Comments contains "#SubGenre=Scottish"

I guess I reached a point where the best solution to my needs is a small utility called "Visual Basic"...

 

[mitrich]

Petey7

I am not sure what Libraries are all about. I see them in Windows Explorer on one machine, but not another machine.

I do know that one cannot really do anything from the Libraries.

This business of needing to access hidden files and system files in Win 7 is all a part of the "Make it Simpler" campaign, which really means make it more like a Mac.

 

[Petey7]

Apparently they did a good job of making it more like a Mac, because I know of a few log term Mac fans that are installing Win7 instead of snow leopard on their Macs.

 

[Tim De Baets]

Now I have to ask, of all the features to get rid of, why tag editing. I'm currently installing WMP11 in XP Mode so I can use the function again. I know there are third party tag editors, but I really liked the one in WMP11. It just doesn't make sense to me.

The Windows Media Player Plus! plug-in will add a new tag editor to WMP, which can be used as a replacement for the Advanced Tag Editor.

That's all fine and dandy, but pretty much useless unless you can select these tag values in your playlist or direct playback and combine them together, like:
Mood="Groovy" and ( (Ratings=5*) or (Ratings=4*) )
I started tagging in Vista/WMP11 but soon stopped because I could not use this meta-information for playback, even in WMP11.

WMP has had support for such dynamic playlists since version 9, I think. It calls them "auto playlists", more information here.

 

[Chimel]

Thanks for the info on the WMP Plus plug-in, this is genius.
Yes, I use the auto playlists already, but they have limits, namely how many you can practically manage: If I had to create one for a specific criteria in each genre, it's already 20 playlists.

I guess I should have said "on the fly" or "unsaved" rather than "dynamic", a temporary selection you can quickly create from the left bar, not a playlist you'll need to delete after usage. A bit like the selection criteria from shopping web sites, where you can easily choose fixed answers or ranges, such as Manufacturer or Price Between.

Playlists are great for a few favorites or to store complex combinations, but the daily varying tasks should be as easy as selecting checkboxes in the left bar, or right-clicking "Play the best songs only" on a given artist or genre.

 

[mitrich]

I added the WMP Plus to WMP12 in Win7 64 bit, I do not see the Tag editor in the context menu. I even rebooted. There are no instructions.

Sorry, I don't get it. Any help???

 

[Tim De Baets]

I have just replied to your e-mail privately (this isn't really the place for WMP Plus! support). It's possibly because you are running the 64-bit version of WMP, while the plug-in only works in the 32-bit version (which is still the default version in Windows 7 x64).

 

[Chimel]

Tag Editor Plus shows when you right-click on a song, as mentioned in the plug-in properties when you run WMP for the first time.
And yes, as for all the stupid plug-ins (last.fm, Messenger, etc.), it works only in WMP x32.

I do think it's relevant to this thread, as it improves the WMP experience, so we should probably rename this thread as "WMP suckles eggs."

Edit 09/06: I managed to restore the "Music|Rating" view in the Library left pane, I just needed to right-click "Customize navigation pane," stupid me!

 

[BelleDiamond]

Back to the beginning of the thread - I totally agree with JBerenyi. I used to be a HUGE fan of WMP, I constantly reminded my Mac buddies to just download it and give it a spin with the SRS Wow effects turned on, and to see for themselves how it compares to iTunes. But unfortunately at version 12 the tables have turned. At least in my experience.

First thing I noticed, is that I'd double click a song, and instead of playing what it's supposed to, something totally different would come up. This didn't happen once, it happens ALL THE TIME :-( I just can't figure out what it is! Then I'd close the program, try again and the song would play correctly but the next song would be mixed up.

The albums artwork gets mixed on top of everything in a totally random order, without a rule. Every time I'd restart the program different songs and cover art would be messed up. Half the time the playback bar doesn't even move, it just remains at 0 seconds and I can't fast forward.

Last but not least - sound quality. This is what I most admired about the program. I must say I'm a finicky listener, but nobody could miss the awful playback when giving it an MPEG-4 - it's just awful.

Maybe it's just my experience, but that's still a lot of problems for one program for one user.

So I looked everywhere online to find a way to officially report the problem to Microsoft, but no luck. Being a Microsoft fan and supporter, I hope this is not the beginning of a fatal slip in corporate identity and standards. At a time like this, when Apple is the obvious star of the show - Microsoft should try extra hard to at least keep consumers and provide some level of support or just an easy platform for feedback.

My 2 cents.