Microsoft Releases Windows Media Player 10 Technical Beta

While not a requirement, Microsoft is betting that most service providers will choose to use Windows Media servers to make the most of what Media Player 10 offers. Through the use of Windows Media DRM and Media Player 10, they will be able to provide content in a way that was previously impossible: subscription-based content that can move between devices. Users with portable music players (there are more than 60) and/or new Portable Media Center devices (also due out later this year) "can take all of their subscription content and put it on a portable device without having to pay for each individual song," says Cullen. To prevent it from going too far afield, content owners can include a timestamp that will eventually "time out" if the license isn’t renewed. Also benefiting from this is a new class of devices like digital audio receivers. Previously, home networks couldn’t transfer protected content. Now, assuming everything’s equipped with Windows Media DRM, users can enjoy their digital content anywhere.

Well, almost anywhere. Cullen would not say definitively that a Mac version is in the works. Typically, Microsoft has released Mac versions 9-12 months after the final release of the same Windows product, but it’s not all that simple. None of the three sites given as examples of digital storefronts in Microsoft’s Media Player 10 literature—Napster, MusicNow, and CinemaNow—support Macs. Much of this is simply a reflection of the market, where the only major online digital content distributor for the Mac is iTunes. But how this will affect the Digital Media Mall in a Mac-based version of Media Player 10 was a question for which Cullen had no answer. The fact that Media Player 10 is both built upon and tightly integrated with the architecture of Windows XP makes the situation potentially even more problematic.

But what about streaming? How can/will Media Player10 improve the streaming experience for end users? For one thing, the new player offers the ability to speed up or slow down streamed content without changing the pitch of the audio. Imagine sitting down to watch an hour-long presentation on the nuances of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act given by Ben Stein, or a complex medical procedure given by Robin Williams, and the benefits become clear.