Microsoft Releases Windows Media Player 10 Technical Beta

Another convenient feature is called Instant-on/Always-on Streaming. Assuming the streaming provider is running Windows Media Services 9 Series, users can switch between multiple streams with virtually no lag, much akin to channel-surfing on a television or turning the knob on a radio. (It should be noted that one thing the Media Library does not allow for is saving links to Internet radio stations. Cullen notes, though, that sites like Napster that offer Internet radio stations will have one-button access to those streams.)

While much of Media Player 10 has been redesigned from its previous iteration, "Video Smoothing for Narrowband Content" is one feature that has survived. Based on the assumption that streamed content typically has to drop frames to be able to squeeze through the narrow pipeline of a dialup Internet connection, it reduces the amount of motion jittering and pixelation that can occur when frames are dropped.

When asked about whether or not the release of Media Player10 heralds the coming of the next generation of the entire Windows Media series, Cullen said there were no short-term plans. "We’re upgrading the player component, and have already upgraded the DRM," says Cullen. "We put a lot of weight behind Windows Media 9." She says that the high-end capabilities of the 9 series audio/video codecs— including 24-bit, 96khz, 5.1+ channel audio at 128Kbps—only recently are being realized by consumers,. "The capabilities of the platform are just now being used," says Cullen.

You can download the Windows Media Player 10 technical beta at here at and give feedback via the Windows Media Beta Newsgroup..