15: Playing Games in Software

Generate QR Code JIS X 0510 in Software 15: Playing Games

FIGURE 15-11

FIGURE 15-12

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I Use Windows Media Player I Record CD music I Watch DVD I Create and Manage Playlists I Manage Your Media Library I Configure Media Player Windows Me introduced Windows Media Player 7, which was a gigantic improvement over previous versions of Media Player If you have used Media Player 7, then Media Player 8 will not create much of a learning curve; but there are some new and very cool features of Media Player 8 With Media Player 8, you can play and manage all kinds of multimedia, from CD/DVD music and movies to all kinds of downloadable multimedia files Media Player 8 also gives you great media management features, and in this chapter, you will learn about them all!

You can find Windows Media Player in Start | More Programs | Accessories | Entertainment | Windows Media Player Depending on your system configuration, you may also have a shortcut to Media Player on your Desktop or on your Taskbar Once you open Media Player, you see a default interface I say default interface because you can completely change the interface using a variety of skins, which you will learn about later in this chapter The default interface provides you with a primary media area, a list of buttons on the left side of the Media Player (called Features), and a standard toolbar When you first open Media Player, it attempts to connect to wwwwindowsmediacom If successful, you ll see a media interface, as shown in Figure 16-1 If you re not connected to the Internet, you ll first see an error page, which is a little annoying but not a big deal You use Media Player by accessing one of the features on the left side of the Media Player By default, the Player always opens to Media Guide, which gives you the Internet page found at WindowsMediacom Each feature does something different, of course, and the following sections explore those primary features

FIGURE 16-1

Now Playing is your media play area and the primary area you will use it lists or shows whatever type of media you are currently playing Most types of media will automatically launch Windows Media Player For example, let s say you want to listen to your favorite CD All you need to do is put the CD into the CD-ROM drive Windows XP scans the CD, recognizes it as a music CD, and launches Window Media Player Media Player begins playing the CD, which appears in the Now Playing area, as shown in Figure 16-2 What if you decide to watch a home movie you have made with Movie Maker No problem, the home movie is displayed in the Now Playing window, as shown in Figure 16-3 So, what can you change and configure on the Now Playing interface Because the primary purpose of Now Playing is simply to provide a quick and easy area to see and hear all multimedia, you do not have specific configuration options for the media, but you can adjust what is displayed in the Now Playing area and how it is displayed to you

FIGURE 16-2

First, in the upper-right corner of the Media Player, you see the following three buttons: I Show/Hide Equalizer Settings This button lets you either show or hide the equalizer settings in the Now Playing window I Show/Hide Playlist This shows or hides the playlist in the Now Playing window If you are listening to a music CD, the songs on the CD are displayed in the Now Playing window if this option is enabled I Shuffle This button shuffles your current playlist This feature is cool if you want to play a music CD and not hear the songs in the same old order There is also a drop-down menu that can be used to select different media to play If you use the buttons to remove the playlist and equalizer features from the