Comments

1. jimich

   
   Posted on: July 30, 2007 at 5:02AM  

   Hello

   "Hi Nick, I found the reason for the plugin not working, there seems to be an error in the installer. My Firefox is installed at "E:\Program Files (x86)\Firefox", and the installer puts the plugin-dll at "D:\PFiles\Plugins\" (my boot drive is C: btw, so it's strange it ended up at D: ). I found it by accident while looking for some other files. After moving the dll into the Firefox folder, all videos play correctly. So this is an installer issue, maybe you can forward this to the development team, thanks."

   --> same for me

   Windows Vista Business 32 bits

   Firefox 2.0.0.6pre aka Bon Echo (nightly build ... automatically upgraded, but first install done with a regular installer ...

   +

   Firefox 3 alpha 5 aka GranParadiso

   --> it wasn't working, even by relaunching the installer and restarting 2 times ...

   and then i found it in c:\PFiles\Plugins instead in my c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\Plugins directory ... just copy paste and then it works ...

   seems that the installer is not detecting nightly versions of firefox ...

   But VLC, flash or Joost did ...
2. Nick White

   
   Posted on: August 01, 2007 at 7:10PM  

   Hey jimich:  strange.  I'll notify the team of this issue and if they have any advice, will pass it along here.
3. bmacphoto

   
   Posted on: August 12, 2007 at 3:50PM  

   So, I need help understanding....I've been criticizing the folks at Real for not producing a player for Rhapsody that works with Vista 64it.  Now I find out that Microsoft is incapable of producing a player that works on their own operating system.  I'm sorry, but this seems incomprehensible....Is there any light you can shed as to whether Microsoft is choosing not to support their 64 bit operating system or just can't do so.
4. Nick White

   
   Posted on: August 13, 2007 at 3:21PM  

   Hey bmacphoto:   not quite sure what you're referring to, as it sounds like you're stating that Windows Media Player 11 is not supported by 64-bit Windows Vista.  However, this is not the case:  64-bit WMP11 does exist and is supported on Windows Vista x64.

   WMP on x64 launches the 32-bit version of the app -- but, the wmplayer.exe is in fact located in the 64-bit directory of the hard drive and you can indeed launch it.  In other words, 64-bit WMP is on the system and nothing prevents a user from changing the default to use 64-bit WMP.

   The issue in this case is that Windows Vista x64 launches the 32-bit version of WMP by default in order to avoid application compatibility issues, as the existing third-party plug-ins and codecs are all based on 32-bit architecture.  This is handled by a function called WOW (or WOW64), which refers to the "Windows on Windows" layer that allows 32-bit applications to run on the 64-bit OS.  (You might also note that even when 32-bit WMP is run, .MP3 and .ASF content are run in a separate 64-bit pipeline process.)

   Our intent here was to provide an ideal solution that gives the user complete choice between compatibility and functionality on a single system.

   Hope this information clarifies your doubts.
5. Nick White

   
   Posted on: August 13, 2007 at 3:53PM  

   One more thing, bmacphoto -- you might find this article useful:  http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/19/switch-change-or-set-64-bit-windows-media-player-11-wmp11-in-windows-vista-x64-as-default/.
6. bmacphoto

   
   Posted on: August 14, 2007 at 1:44PM  

   I go to ESPN radio, and it will not load on my Vista x64 machine....Works fine using an XP machine.  

   I try to sign up and use Urge, the music service which you all have teamed with to support WMP11, and it will not work on Vista x64.

   In taking a quick look at the link you provided, it looks that I may need to hire someone to set up my computer to use WMP11....Don't get me wrong, the program does work for watching a video or listening to music stored on my computer, but it does not play with the web.  In all honesty, I would love to know if Microsoft considers this to be acceptable in terms of your goals with Vista.  

   I'm not trying to be a pain, just very tired of  finding that a work around seems to be the answer to everthing associated with Vista.  
7. bmacphoto

   
   Posted on: August 21, 2007 at 6:19PM  

   So, here are a couple of sites that I can't enjoy because I have Vista and WMP11....

   http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/index

   http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/18/tech/main3181642.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3181642

   Okay, truth be told, I can't enjoy any website with their audio or video running on embedded WMP.  Any other embedded audio/video player works perfect.  

   Thank you Microsoft.....
8. Nick White

   
   Posted on: August 22, 2007 at 5:29PM  

   Hey bmacphoto:  I forwarded your note to the team testing this plug-in and they've confirmed that they're able to access both sites without incident; consequently, it sounds like the issue resides somewhere on your specific system.  Hope this information helps you find the root cause.
9. mallam130

   
   Posted on: August 23, 2007 at 6:45PM  

   Hi,

   I'm using a standard installation of vista on a new notebook. I am not a tech genius, and do not claim to be. I am simply having a problem watching selected streaming content. In some cases the content will stream perfectly. In other cases i get what i can only describe as a video freeze while audio plays perfectly. At first I thought it was a bandwidth problem, but I tested the problem videos on my XP laptop. No problems there. I have tried allowing windows media player through the microsoft firewall, also nothing. I am at my wits end with this ridiculous problem, it's probably so simple to resolve, yet I have searched everywhere, and all microsoft answers lead nowhere.

   please, shed some light,

   -mallam
10. betamod

    
    Posted on: August 25, 2007 at 2:52AM  

    Hi Nick,

    To clarify: my complaint is not about streaming video but rather downloaded video.

    As an aside, I am glad that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has switched from RealPlayer to WMP to deliver their content because RP was a big bloated buggy pig with crappy video quality.

    But back to my specific problem: I download lots of DivX/XviD video over the years and it is my consistent experience that audio and video go out of sync more often than not when played for any length of time in WNP, while the same files play flawlessly in VLC, even Winamp. I am not making this up. I have noticed this problem on my XP and Vista machines, older and even on contemporary hardware. My friends notice the same problem and that is why we all use VLC when we watch downloaded movies. And again, I have noticed this problem since DivX/XviD became common. I have not done a formal survey but I don't personally know anyone who has NOT experienced this bug while using your software. I therefore find it hard to believe that this is some anomaly and not a genuine bug in WMP, but hey, don't shoot the messenger.

    Even though it seems to use way more memory than VLC I would personally prefer to use WMP since it is a complete media player/manager, but this is juts not an option. I have experimented with Democracy Player but its is not mature enough yet and leaks memory. Itunes is by far the most elegant and ergonomic of your competitors and I think the audio quality is superior to WMP but Apple likes to have it all their way and can't seem to play DivX/XviD avi files at all. But if ever they did . . .

    Also, since I have your ear, I should say that I am concerned with the footprint of Media Player as it becomes a Swiss army knife. Perhaps things will be different when I migrate to a duel core architecture machine, but for now, I find that WMP can be a bit too much of a hog too, even on XP. I mean, I use my computers for work and while of course I would like to play music in the background, this is not the center of my computing universe and so such an application should not, in my opinion, take up as much resources as WMP does.

    Anyway, I hope you will consider these issues in future updates to your software. I sure would like to not have to install four different media players and just stick with one that plays everything and has all the features that I need without eating or leaking too much memory. Maybe that is too much to ask?

    - betamod