Windows Media Player has a slew of keyboard shortcuts that work only when the media player is active, but these shortcuts stop working once WMP is no longer in focus or minimized. WMP Keys add the following default global hotkeys for Windows Media Player 10, 11, and 12. Windows Media Player 12 Learn more Included in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro, but doesn't include DVD playback. Go to the DVD playback for Windows page to find out how to add DVD playback to Windows 8.1. For Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 8.1 N and KN editions, get the Media Feature Pack. Windows Media Player is an easy-to-use application. It provides high quality performance whether you choose to watch a movie or play music tracks. The software has got other perks and helpful features prepared, such as user-friendly interface, ability to organize your files into playlists, support of other devices like Xbox360 and more.
Windows Media Player 12 is built into Windows 7 OS. However, it is available for free download for windows 7 N and KN Editions as windows media Feature Pack. This software pack will work only on those special editions and not on other versions of Windows.Though the media player is available only for Windows 7, we have the download link of its skins for XP and Vista here.
Media Player 12 Features
Windows Media Player 12 is the default media player for Windows 7 and it supports all the video and audio formats supported by the preceding version windows Media Player 11 including 3GP, AVI, AAC, AVCHD, WMA and WMV. In addition, you can enjoy high definition videos as it supports H.264 (MPEG-4).It also plays Xvid and DivX videos, DRM unprotected songs from the Apple iTunes library and even supports digital audio formats like AAC (Advanced audio coding).
It thus supports more formats than WMP 11 but it comes bundled together with windows 7.You can however download it separately for Windows 7 N and Windows 7 KN.
Windows Media Player 12 is thus a more complete media player as it can play videos, music, pictures, recorded TV and any other media. Here are a few other notable features.
- Organize your media into libraries of music, videos, pictures, recorded TV and any other digital media
- Create a play-list of of your digital media files. You can also create auto play-lists by specifying your own rules.
- Burn the media files to any CD or DVD. This will be useful when you want to burn your favorite play-lists in your home computer to a Cd or DVD and carry the disk with you. You can thus enjoy the media even when you are on the move.
- Alternatively, you can sync the media files to any portable device and carry that device with you. Syncing can be done either automatically or manually.
- Stream media from home to other computers on the same network or by allowing Internet access to media on your home PC. You can thus stream and share your favorite videos and music with you friends and dear ones, wherever they are. You will only need an Internet connection to stream the media to distant places. Media streaming over the Internet is an easier alternative to sharing the large media files like personal videos and music libraries for download.
Check out the Windows 7 Media Player 12 features in this video.
Free Download Windows Media Player 12
Download the media player skins and enjoy the feel of the latest player. Though these were initially claimed to be the beta release of the current version, they really proved to be themes which can be applied on the media player bundled with Vista and XP.
If you are on XP, you may download Windows Media Player 12 i.e. WMP 12 For Windows XP here. These are skins for the existing player in XP.
If you don’t have the latest version of WMP for Vista or XP, download windows media player 11, which even has a task-bar-integrated mini-player! This mini-player has unfortunately been removed in windows media player 12.
Windows 7 N and KN are special editions released by Microsoft to comply with the laws of European countries. These editions provide all the functionality in Windows 7 except the Windows Media Player 12. However, Microsoft does provide Windows Media Feature Pack. Users of Windows 7 special editions can download and install this software pack to enable and experience the functionality offered by the default media player. DownloadWindows Media Player 12 for Windows 7 N and KN.
Windows Media Player 13 X64
If you face any issues with the media player, Microsoft has now released a new online script (Fix it) to automatically repair any Windows Media Player errors.