REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 6, 2003 — Microsoft Corp. today released download statistics that show record-breaking consumer demand for the new Microsoft® Windows Media® Player 9 Series and Windows®
Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP in their first month of availability. 14 million downloads of Windows Media Player 9 Series were recorded worldwide in just 30 days — a rate of over 5 downloads every second. This shatters the previous record for downloads of digital music jukebox software, held by Windows Media Player 7 — nearly doubling the number of downloads in the first 30 days. Based on data unveiled today, a key driver behind this momentum is the high level of customer satisfaction.
“These kinds of download volumes are truly amazing. Clearly the high satisfaction expressed by beta users of Windows Media Player 9 Series has resulted in massive interest and adoption,”
said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.
“This kind of response shows the breakthrough new digital media experiences we designed for Windows XP have clearly struck a chord with our customers around the world.”
High Customer Satisfaction Driving Record Uptake
Proving Windows Media Player 9 meets its design goals for fast and flexible playback, new research from Microsoft indicates the rapid uptake for the new player has been driven by several key improvements based on customer satisfaction. In a recent study of more than 1,600 Windows Media Player 9 Series beta users, completed in November 2002, users of individual features in Windows Media Player 9 Series indicated the following:
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Nearly 9 out 10 users of the individual features expressed their satisfaction with innovations such as improved audio quality, new Fast Streaming technology that minimizes buffering, and player performance improvements.
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Nearly 8 out of 10 users of the individual features indicated their satisfaction with the new Mini-Player mode, new audio effects such as crossfading and volume leveling and the new Smart Jukebox capabilities. These capabilities include Auto Info, which can automatically update a music collection’s metadata information; Auto-playlists, which can create custom music mixes automatically; and new automatic song ratings based on a user’s music-listening habits.
Windows Movie Maker 2 Hits 3 Million Downloads
Windows Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP, for easy editing and sharing of video, was also introduced last month and embraced by consumers at an unprecedented rate, hitting over 3 million downloads worldwide.
Built on state-of-the-art technology innovations including Windows Media Audio and Video 9 and home video analysis technology from Microsoft Research, Windows Movie Maker 2 offers Windows XP customers dramatic improvements to remove complexity and confusion from home video editing. New breakthroughs such as AutoMovie allow even new users to create a home video with music, professional-looking titles and transitions, in just minutes. Windows Movie Maker 2 also offers deep and powerful new features with more than 130 new kinds of video effects, titles and transitions.
Availability
The latest version of Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows XP is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/experiences/ and http://windowsmedia.com/.
The latest version of Windows Movie Maker 2 for Windows XP is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/experiences/ or at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Windows Media and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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