REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 2, 2000 — Over 3.4 million people downloaded Windows Media Player 7 in its first 10 days of availability, Microsoft announced today. During the week of July 23, Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 was also one of the top five downloads at CNET’s download.com, surpassing all other digital media jukeboxes, including RealPlayer and RealJukebox.
And no wonder. The new player has a host of new and improved features, including support of custom CD creation and one-click access to a built-in media guide, a media library, a radio tuner, portable devices, and custom visualizations and skins — including the “Digital DJ,” which enables the player to automatically create playlists from a collection of digital music based on preferences set by the user. It plays Windows Media formats with near-VHS and near-DVD video and CD-quality audio at half the file size of MP3, and also plays legacy MP3 files.
“Windows Media Player 7 is winning industry reviews for its innovative and easy all-in- one experience,” said Dave Fester, general manager of marketing for the Digital Media Division at Microsoft. “The unprecedented consumer demand for Windows Media Player 7 is the true measure of how we’ve met the needs of mainstream consumers.”
There are more than 200 licensed copies of Windows Media Player worldwide. Downloads are available at http://WindowsMedia.com/ and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .
