The WMP Privacy scam

[Zombie9920]

I use Playcenter because it doesn't limit the bitrate that I can rip MP3's at. WMP8 limits them to 64kbps, with playcenter I can rip at 64, 128, 196, 256, 320+ kbps. Creative Playcenter also takes advantage of the audio accel technology( 20x ripping speed) of my Creative 52x CD-Rom drive(WMP8 only rips at like 8x).

[ March 01, 2002: Message edited by: Zombie9920 ]

[Calum]

wow. what a great feature. media player only lets you rip at rates of up to 64kbps.
long live Microsoft. they really know how to bring out the best programs.
(sarcasm mode off)
Why do they bother bringing it out at all if it only lets you encode at up to 64kbps? (rhetorical, i know it's because they want you to use the .wma format instead...)

[Zombie9920]

Well, actually I have the WMP8 MP3 pack that allows for encoding MP3's at higher bitrates in WMP 8. However the quality of the MP3's encoded from WMP 8 in higher rates(with the pack) is not comparable to the quality from Creative Playcenter. It all boils down to the fact Microsoft is trying to erradicate MP3 Audio with WMA(so they are not going to give you good MP3 encoding). WMP 8 is a great player for all video related stuff, but it sucks as an Audio player and audio encoder.

[FuckMSTillTheyDie]

The dickheads at MicroCrap want you to buy plug-ins to allow you to get a decent rate..but the solution is to download a codec (radium is very popular) and tweak the registry with up to 4 settings.

As for MS not spying on us? ROTFLMBFAO.
I read on a forum that some poor bastard got an email from Microsoft saying that his XP was not legally activated...if guys liks steve gibson were not monitoring these fuckers they would be raping our privacy overtly.