By. Fibriany
Since the debut of the iPod there has been a war going on. A secret, stealthy war that we've all been apart of, in fact, we're the prime targets of this war. On the outside,
the iPod is just a nice, expensive MP3 player. On the inside, it is a device that is used to direct our attentions to Apple's music store and Apple's media player software, known as: Itunes. Shortly after the iPod was released Microsoft began developing it's own kind of monster. The Zune tried to persuade it's listeners to use Microsoft's media player software, Windows Media Player.
Are you going to be using Windows Media Player 11, iTunes 7, or Winamp 5.52. We're going to take this decision and make it a lot easier for you in this comparative analysis of each of the best media player software out there by listing the features, pros, and cons, and overall ease of use of each media player.
iTunes 7
The latest version of iTunes is 7.6 and it was released on January 15th, 2008. It's Apple's main free media player software, and it features the iTunes Store, easy syncing to your computer and your iPod, Cover Flow, encode music into a variety of formats, and it also has a big selection of internet radio stations to listen to. It has a really easy to use user interface, everything is at your finterips, and your iPod syncs with the software automatically.
Pros:
• The iTunes store has a huge database of songs, movies, and TV series for you to download.
Cons:
• I find the automatic syncing of the iPod a little annoying
• Typically only has good MP3 player support for the iPod, if you have a different MP3 player you're on your own.
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11 is Microsoft's answer to a fully capable media player. It features the typical audio, video, media playback, visualizations, MP3 player syncing, good organized library with CD ripping capabilities. It'll also stream videos so you can watch them from your PC on your TV. This feature alone is something worth checking out WMP11 for, however you can still do this if you don't have Windows Media Player by using Windows Media Connect software available at Microsoft's Website.
Pros:
• Ability to connect your Xbox 360 to your PC for media sharing and streaming
Cons:
• The format support isn't as good as other programs
• Need a genuine copy of Windows to use it
Winamp
Winamp is the original ultimate media player, and has been around since ancient times. It can sync to your iPod and other PlaysForSure devices. ability to remove duplicate files from your library. Winamp also has plugin functionality and a wide database of plugins on their main website. The only downside is the ripping capability in the free version of Winamp.
Pros:
• Easy to manage your music library
• Many streaming video and radio channels to choose from
• Ability to connect to your Xbox 360 and stream videos and music to it
• Easy iPod syncing
Cons:
• Touchy software, sometimes crashes while doing random things like loading up your iPod or ripping a CD
• Bad ripping performance until you purchase the Pro version
Each media player has it's pros and cons, there is no one solution, but whatever you prefer, iTunes is for the common iPod audience, WinAmp is for the music power users, and Windows Media Player 11 is suitable for the rest in between.
Since the debut of the iPod there has been a war going on. A secret, stealthy war that we've all been apart of, in fact, we're the prime targets of this war. On the outside,
the iPod is just a nice, expensive MP3 player. On the inside, it is a device that is used to direct our attentions to Apple's music store and Apple's media player software, known as: Itunes. Shortly after the iPod was released Microsoft began developing it's own kind of monster. The Zune tried to persuade it's listeners to use Microsoft's media player software, Windows Media Player.Are you going to be using Windows Media Player 11, iTunes 7, or Winamp 5.52. We're going to take this decision and make it a lot easier for you in this comparative analysis of each of the best media player software out there by listing the features, pros, and cons, and overall ease of use of each media player.
iTunes 7
The latest version of iTunes is 7.6 and it was released on January 15th, 2008. It's Apple's main free media player software, and it features the iTunes Store, easy syncing to your computer and your iPod, Cover Flow, encode music into a variety of formats, and it also has a big selection of internet radio stations to listen to. It has a really easy to use user interface, everything is at your finterips, and your iPod syncs with the software automatically.
Pros:
• The iTunes store has a huge database of songs, movies, and TV series for you to download.
Cons:
• I find the automatic syncing of the iPod a little annoying
• Typically only has good MP3 player support for the iPod, if you have a different MP3 player you're on your own.
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11 is Microsoft's answer to a fully capable media player. It features the typical audio, video, media playback, visualizations, MP3 player syncing, good organized library with CD ripping capabilities. It'll also stream videos so you can watch them from your PC on your TV. This feature alone is something worth checking out WMP11 for, however you can still do this if you don't have Windows Media Player by using Windows Media Connect software available at Microsoft's Website.
Pros:
• Ability to connect your Xbox 360 to your PC for media sharing and streaming
Cons:
• The format support isn't as good as other programs
• Need a genuine copy of Windows to use it
Winamp
Winamp is the original ultimate media player, and has been around since ancient times. It can sync to your iPod and other PlaysForSure devices. ability to remove duplicate files from your library. Winamp also has plugin functionality and a wide database of plugins on their main website. The only downside is the ripping capability in the free version of Winamp.
Pros:
• Easy to manage your music library
• Many streaming video and radio channels to choose from
• Ability to connect to your Xbox 360 and stream videos and music to it
• Easy iPod syncing
Cons:
• Touchy software, sometimes crashes while doing random things like loading up your iPod or ripping a CD
• Bad ripping performance until you purchase the Pro version
Each media player has it's pros and cons, there is no one solution, but whatever you prefer, iTunes is for the common iPod audience, WinAmp is for the music power users, and Windows Media Player 11 is suitable for the rest in between.
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