A joint venture between Microsoft and MTV, Urge will provide users with access to more than two million songs and is the 'preferred' download service in Media Player 11.Īccessible as a subscription service and on a per-song basis, the music service also offers users 130 streaming radio stations. Windows Media Player 11 also allows users to manage recorded TV shows and has added more options to the syncing features on digital media devices.Īmong the most highly-touted features is the inclusion of Urge. This works for CDs being ripped as well as unnamed audio files, according to Microsoft. The new navigation options include the ability to organise music by album art using a 'stacking' interface, similar to the cover browser feature in iTunes, that groups albums by genre, artist and other information.Īudio fingerprinting software in the program analyses new music and automatically updates it with artist, track and album information from an online database. Mike Sievert, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Windows, said that the new features are 'a preview of what's to come in Windows Vista'. Microsoft has released Windows Media Player 11, featuring a new interface, increased support for portable players, and integration with the Urge music service.
