So Graz has this ongoing vendetta against iTunes, mostly because the interface doesn't follow Windows guidelines.

And I just got Microsoft Office OCS here at work.  And if I use Windows Media Player (WMP) then it'll auto-pause music when I get a phone call.  So I decided to try out WMP.  After all, it's made by the BIGGEST SOFTWARE COMPANY IN THE WORLD and a media player is a fairly simple thing, what could possibly go wrong?

Ok, so…it doesn' t support drag-n-drop. Well, it does, and it'll give me the little + of "valid to drop things here" when you drag something, and then I drop it and…nothing happens.  It doesn' t add to the library.  So it follows the interface guidelines, but doesn't actually WORK.  I tried, over and over, incredulous that MICROSOFT COULD JACK UP DRAG AND DROP but there it was.  Drag file, drop, nothing.  It acts like it's going to work, but doesn't actually DO anything.

Then I go to the library and tell it to add files to my playlist from a directory.  It processes 650 files and adds 150.  Um.  Ok.  Why did you skip 500 files?  No information on why.  It just did.  Turns out it didn't like them because they're m4a files (DRM free Apple AAC files).  Sigh.  So then I go and find an addon to read m4a files.  Because, you know, it's just the default format for the best selling music player in the WORLD, why would they add it into the default installation?  Now with the codec I can listen to the AAC's but it won't add 'em to the library.  So I look at help and it says that anytime I play a file it'll add to the playlist.  And it doesn't.   So the help file is lying.

Back up a second here.

A long time ago, back in 1993, a company called Nullsoft, that was basically 2 guys in a kitchen, wrote a piece of software called WinAmp, the best media player ever made.  Why?  It worked.  Get this: you could drag and drop files into it and it'd play the files and add them to your library.  It eventually could play video too.  And it just all worked.  It was simple, robust, and reliable.  And windows media player CAN'T DO STUFF THAT WINAMP WAS DOING 15 YEARS AGO.

Now the fun part.

It turns out that if I make a playlist, I can create a playlist with these songs, but it won't put them in the library.

Sigh.

I gotta figure out of OCS will play nicely with any other audio players, or if I'm locked into this godawful piece of crap.

**update
OK, so here's what's going on.

In order to use m4a files (Unprotected AAC's) in WMP, you need to install 2 things.  First, you have to install a codec for AAC, then you have to install another, completley separate, piece of software to make WMP recognize the AAC tags.  If you don't have this, then WMP won't really import the files into your library DESPITE TELLING YOU IT'S GOING TO.

The absolute biggest sin any user interface can make is to lie to users.  WMP delights in telling lies.  "Sure that worked LOL".

The tagging thingy can be found here:
http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm

The AAC codec can be found with a google search.

chris.