3DsoundSurge Press Release: Microsoft Debuts WM PLUGINS.COM Offering Over 100 Cool New Enhancements For Windows Media Player 9 Series

Microsoft Debuts WM PLUGINS.COM Offering Over 100 Cool New Enhancements For Windows Media Player 9 Series

20 Companies Embrace New Player Capabilities to Offer Exciting New Skins, Visual Effects, Powertoys and More

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced the launch of WM PLUGINS.COM (http://www.wmplugins.com/ ), the premier resource and catalog of enhancements from 20 different companies and Microsoft for extending the Windows Media® Player 9 Series experience for Windows® XP. Plug-ins are a key new capability in Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows XP that allow any developer to customize and add great new enhancements to the player. More than 100 enhancements are available today on the Web site, underscoring the diverse developer support and enthusiasm for the new Windows Media 9 Series platform. These new add-ons extend the features in Windows Media Player 9 Series in cool new ways to offer enthusiasts the ultimate customizations of music playlists, new audio and CD-burning features, new visualizations with personal photos that the user can enjoy while listening to music, new Xbox(TM) skins and powertoys to adjust advanced settings for Windows Media Player 9 Series.

"We are incredibly impressed with the quality and range of plug-ins already available from the development community for Windows Media Player 9 Series," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Now Windows XP customers have one easy place to find out how they can get the most out of these exciting new enhancements."

Companies offering new enhancements on the site include 4Front Technologies, Anark Corporation, Averett & Associates, CyberLink Corporation, Inscriber, InterVideo Inc., QSound Labs Inc., RCS, Saltmine Inc., The Skins Factory, Sonic Solutions, SRS Labs Inc., Tattoo Media Inc. and VoiceAge Corporation. Other companies that intend to add their own enhancements in the near future include Ahead Software Inc., AnalogX, Caption Colorado LLC, Dolby Labs Inc., MoodLogic Inc. and OverDrive Inc.

Also making their premiere today on WM PLUGINS.COM are a series of new enhancements for Windows Media Player 9 Series from Microsoft, including these:

Tweak MP Plug-in Powertoy. This new plug-in offers easy access to more-advanced settings for the Windows Media Player 9 Series media library, CD burning and full-screen modes including enabling queue-it-up on double-click in Windows Media Player Media Library, enabling and disabling automatic volume leveling on CD burning, enabling and disabling automatic playback of CD on insertion when player is open, and advanced control of full-screen options and animations.
New official Xbox Live skins. Created by The Skins Factory Inc. for Microsoft, these skins include enhancements for the Windows Media Player 9 Series such as cross-fading and equalizer settings. The Official Xbox Live(TM) Plus! Party Mode also adds an additional skin for Plus! Digital Media Edition.
New themed visualizations. New 3-D visualizations showcase the new look and style of Windows Media Player 9 Series: -- A new interactive equalizer set on a 3-D liquid pool moves to the

music.

Picture It!® Visualization II turns your media player into a picture gallery displaying and animating photos to music. (Both require a 3-D accelerator card with 16 MB of memory or more.)
Softie the Snowman II puts visualizations in a wintry mood with 3-D enhancements and more animation.

All plug-ins and enhancements are immediately available today. The WM PLUGINS.COM site is community supported and offers a free catalog and rating service for each enhancement designed for consumers and developers alike. It is powered by Microsoft® Passport to help enable vendors to easily and securely administer plug-in submissions online.

About Windows Media

Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, used by consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations throughout the world. The new Windows Media 9 Series will power the next wave of digital media, delivering the best playback experience, unmatched audio and video quality, and integrated optional digital rights management technology, and is the most comprehensive platform for developing digital media products and services. The Windows Media platform includes Windows Media Player; Windows Media Services, the powerful streaming server for distributing content; Windows Media Encoder for content creation; Windows Media Audio and Video for the best-quality audio and video; Windows Media DRM to help protect content; and the Windows Media Software Development Kit for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing and now leading media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

NOTE: Microsoft, Windows Media, Windows, Xbox, Xbox Live and Picture It! are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Microsoft Corp.