Windows Media Player 10

Decided to give Windows Media Player 10 a whirl. It's free anyway so why not.

My opinion: I like it. This is the first WMP I've seen that actually does what it's supposed to do quite well.

First: Microsoft finally did something they should have done to WMP a long time ago, and that's put it on a diet. Since version 7, WMP has been bulky, weighty and just eats up computer memory. This one is much "slimmer" in that respect.

Second: A helluva lot easier to use. Buttons now make sense, menus have been redesigned. I was able to easily figure this one out.

Third: Looks better. The last WMP was a little too over-the-top in the way it worked. This one can be put in a plain "box" and looks fine when it's in that mode. To those people who still like those custom skins, yes you can still use them - but I always preferred WMP in stock form.

Fourth: Finally looks like the rest of Windows XP. WMP was a bit of an island unto itself. Now it actually matches the look of the XP OS a bit better.

Fifth: The Guide is actually worth looking at now. It's clean and music is easy to get to.

It's not often I say this (if ever,) but bravo Microsoft on this one. Well done. It's still not as quick as WinAMP, but now it's damn close.