Among the more notable features in Windows Media Player 11 is an "instant search" feature for locating music simply by typing in the initial letters of an artist's name. For instance, by typing in a search for Jessica Simpson, with the first letter "J," the search tool narrows the list to all music beginning with a "J."

An Urge To Play

Microsoft has tightly integrated the player with MTV's new online music store, Urge. One component of the integration is a music feed technology that works in the same fashion as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) by enabling Urge subscribers to sign up for content streams according to their music preferences.

These feeds can be synchronized with portable media players and refreshed daily. As long as subscribers connect their devices each day to their PCs, the list will refresh.

Previous iterations of the Windows Media Player have been called both unwieldy and unattractive by reviewers and consumers alike. But the new version of the software has attempted to address most of those concerns.

Music Management

For many years now, music fans have been ripping their CDs or using online subscription services to download tunes, which means that music libraries stored on PCs have grown in size dramatically. With the new edition of the software, Microsoft has tried to make managing enormous music collections much more efficient.

Rather than force users to scroll through a database-like list, for example, Windows Media Player 11 offers the option of moving through tunes according to thumbnails of album art.

According to Microsoft, some 200 portable and home networking devices work with Windows Media Player 11.

"Windows Media Player 11 is the first media player to be truly designed with the digital entertainment lover in mind," Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft, said in a statement.

"The fresh new look, the ability to find songs and videos in an instant, and the enhanced capabilities for syncing with portable devices are not only exactly what customers have asked us for; they're also a preview of what's to come in Windows Vista," Sievert said.

Windows XP users can download Windows Media Player 11 at microsoft.com/windowsmedia. Those using earlier versions will be notified of the upgrade through an automatic alert.