The MTV Urge music store has its own tab inside the Windows Media Player 11 interface. View Slideshow 
Pop quiz, hotshot. You're a technology conglomerate competing with Apple Computer for a share of the multimedia market space. The last few versions of your media software have played second fiddle to the iTunes party train, causing you to lose both money and street cred. What do you do?
You release the first major redesign of Windows Media Player in more than two years.
The 11th version of Microsoft's Windows Media Player hit Windows XP desktops Monday like an out-of-control city bus. No, we haven't got a wooden Keanu Reeves to save the day, but we do have some solid evidence of Microsoft's effort to bring sexy back to the media player.
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
The first thing you'll notice about this incarnation of WMP is how aesthetically similar it is to iTunes: the brushed metal skins, the configuration of the controls, and even the way the media files are arranged are all suspiciously similar to Apple's powerhouse player. Microsoft even includes a feature that lets you scroll through your music files by album cover -- exactly like iTunes 7. And you know what? The new interface works. Gone is the clunky, text-based setup of previous WMP versions. This new interface is intuitive, graphically elegant and, best of all, easy to use.
Tabs: Not Just for Firefox
Adorning the new sleek visage of WMP 11 are six access tabs -- five of which are actually useful. You'll be able to toggle between whatever media you're currently playing and your media library, as well as access menus for ripping, burning and syncing up media. The last tab lets you instantly access MTV's Urge music store.
Urge to Kill Rising
About as subtle as a kick to the face, the Urge music store is MTV's latest ploy to win back the hearts and minds of consumers it has alienated over the years with sub-par programming and pleading marketing. The integration of the Urge store into WMP 11 is both intrusive and unwelcome; you can't remove or hide it. Plus, the anemic content coupled with a muddled interface make for a music download service only the painfully ignorant would use.
Burn, Baby Burn
You won't break a sweat secretly burning your girlfriend's Kelly Clarkson CD. WMP 11 will rip audio CDs quickly and quietly in the default WMA format or the more popular MP3 format. For the fanatical audiophiles out there, WMP 11 can also rip music in the lossless WAV format. Additionally, any of the supported file formats can be burned onto a CD with ease.
Sync or Swim
WMP 11 is adept at both organizing and playing a multitude of media files. But synchronization with portable devices is where the program truly shines. We took a Creative Zen V Plus and synced it up with WMP 11 in a snap, importing and exporting several gigabytes of data in a few minutes. All non-DRM-protected media files transferred back and forth from the V Plus easily, making it incredibly simple to share media files between the computer and a portable player.
360 Degrees of Separation
Microsoft touts WMP 11 as being an excellent tool for syncing with multimedia centers like the Xbox 360. We connected our in-house 360 to a laptop loaded with WMP 11 and let the good times roll. After downloading Windows Media Connect, it was a cinch to transfer 2 gigs' worth of music files to the gaming rig. Video, on the other hand, was a different story. Transmitting season 4 of Futurama took several hours and proved to be a painfully slow, mind-numbing chore.
The Verdict Is In
Windows Media Player 11 is definitely a significant improvement over its predecessors. Taking a cue from Apple, Microsoft has devised a gorgeous and surprisingly uncomplicated media player. However, if the boys from Redmond want to truly gain ground on the folks at One Infinite Loop, they'll have to integrate a better music store than Urge into future WMP sequels. And hey, Microsoft, you guys are on the right track, but you should spend more time listening to what your customers actually want instead of telling them what they need.
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