Debut and departure for Windows chief

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The Library in WMP 11 is still useless.

Don't bother trying it.

It can't locate music without giving directions in the options, can't search well for music, can't move music from one category to another easily.
And it asks for ratings and other irrelevances frequently.

XMPlay, which is, I believe, developed by one person, has a primitive library system that does everything a library is required to do, and does it well.

Excessive ambition can lead to over-complexity and user aggravataion.

Quoting the article:

"That's the way we design our system to be--hard to use," Allchin says, his frustration clearly getting the better of him. Moments later, though, he is effusive in his praise for another feature that automatically imports all of a user's music. "I love that. I love that. I love that," he gushes. "It's so much better. Hit one button, and everything is set for you."

[The feature doesn't work well because of all the assumptions built-in about where music is stored. And when giving those instructions, be careful to tell WMP not to destroy any file that doesn't fit its expectations.]



WMP 11 is far from the only program that incorporates too much and tries to make too many decisions for the user.

Many paid applications, especially those with free competition, appear to believe that the way to obtain customers is to include the kitchen sink (with clogged drains).

Doing one essential function (or a very few closely related functions) well and easily is a better way to gain revenue.



Just as one example, try to find a program which cuts mpg's to the frame.
(This actually isn't easy as mpg's don't approve of being treated that way. One solution is to do a small amount of converting at the cut point...)

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 01/29/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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