RealONE: All For One
The media browser may be the most controversial new feature of RealONE. Undoubtedly, some people will love it; others will hate it and never use it. Fortunately, it can be detached from the player or closed completely, depending on your preference. Still, I found it very convenient to be able to surf the Web and check my Yahoo! Mail from within the media player.
Since it is a Web browser, you can watch practically any type of content from RealONE. Any application with a plug-in can be viewed, which means that you can watch QuickTime and even Windows Media streams as long as they are embedded onto a Web page. If you click on a file that's not embedded, it launches the appropriate player such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player. RealONE doesn't natively support QuickTime or Windows Media streams, but it does a very good job of mimicking streaming playback ability.
The jukebox features of RealONE are pretty straightforward and similar to RealJukebox. All old RealJukebox library files are imported upon installation, so there's not much work to do. RealONE also senses when new files have been added, so you don't have to manually re-import files. You can also now drag and drop files into RealONE, and add them to the Now Playing list. CD burning is enabled, as is CD ripping into RealAudio8, MP3 and WAV formats. New in RealONE is support for data CD burning, so you can save hundreds of MP3s onto a CD, rather than create an audio CD.
RealONE still supports a wide variety of file types (like MP3, SMIL, CDs, WAV, MIDI, AVI) but it doesn't automatically come with Liquid Audio or Windows Media Audio playback ability. When I tried to play a Windows Media local file, the RealONE player attempted to auto-download additional components but after trying for a long time, it couldn't find the update. According to RealNetworks, this is just a fluke in my review copy, and tests on my computer at home shows that the update does work.
Real Errors
Unfortunately, this was just one error that I encountered. After first installing the player and attempting to start it, it crashed before it could load completely. I had no choice but to uninstall everything completely and reinstalling RealONE from scratch. I then had login problems, which RealNetworks said was due to an "authentication issue" on the reviewer's Web site. This prevented me from logging onto the RealONE player, and I initially thought I couldn't use the player at all. But canceling the sign-in screen brought me right into the player, although I assumed that I was missing all the premium features.
Since then, the player has worked fine, although it has crashed on several occasions. I still can't be sure whether it was the browser component, or the Real player itself that was responsible. Of course, this is still the alpha, pre-release version of the player, so I assume that it will be much more stable in future releases. RealONE's overall footprint is rather small, both in terms of file size and memory resources, especially compared to the old RealPlayer and RealJukebox applications.
On the plus side, there is a very smart help feature, which walks users through specific tasks, with step-by-step instructions. Some features I couldn't access include a premium radio service (with 48 ad-free stations), Channels and Topic Centers.
Premium Content
Perhaps my biggest complaint is that there isn't much content that's authored for the three pane look. Yes, I know it's still a preview, and developers haven't had much time to author content, but just a few examples would be groovy. Far too often, I'm greeted with a message on one of the windows that reads: "These RealONE services will not be available until the RealONE Player is publicly introduced." Even worse, switching to the Radio and Channels brings up the same error message, so it was impossible to test those features.
To get the wide range of premium content, you have to open your wallet and pay about $9.95 for the RealONE Service, formerly called GoldPass. Interestingly, some old premium content doesn't translate well into RealOne because of the SMIL-heavy, interactive one-pane look of old. No doubt, content will look better once developers start authoring using the three-pane view.
RealNetworks' all-in-one approach is clearly the way of the future, but the interface might need some reworking. Perhaps if RealONE weren't so feature-rich it would be much easier to use. Expert users will no doubt be befuddled yet curious about everything that RealONE offers, but novices shouldn't have much trouble getting up and running with the basics. Clearly, the battle lines are being drawn and RealNetworks is aiming squarely at Microsoft.