The Urge-WMP11 combo doesn’t officially go to public beta until Wednesday but a leaked version of WMP11 is accessible. These impressions of Urge and WMP11 are from people who had an advance look. We’ll keep track of the instant react, too.
— James Kim, CNET: “With this beta launch, Microsoft has transformed its omnipresent media player from a state of default mediocrity into a powerful must-have application for music and media. Windows Media users finally have their iTunes.”
— Michael Gartenberg, Jupiter:”So overall, how does WMP 11/URGE combo stack up against the iPod/iTunes? Well, if you’re looking at it from the music store perspective, it’s hard to see how this combination bests Apple in any way. While Microsoft talks about the value of the platform, most consumers are too busy listening to their iPods to listen to the message. In terms of a music subscription services, URGE shines. … Right now, a lot will come down to marketing. … It may not be enough to remove Apple from king of the digital music world but it very well has the chance to expose the market to the benefits of subscription services and that in and of itself is a pretty big thing.”
— David Card, Jupiter: “Urge is not about competing with Apple’s iTunes business. However, it is totally about competing with iTunes as a platform. … As you should expect from a product that’s seen excellent predecessor competitors, Urge is slick and polished. Well, it looks polished — it’s buggy now, but heck, so is Yahoo. MusicNet built the Urge back-end, but Urge doesn’t look like MusicNet powered services like Yahoo or Virgin Digital.”
— CNET: Still beta, buggy, navigation slow but Jasmine France says overall it’s the one of the best music subscriptions services out there. “MTV Urge is seamlessly integrated into the powerful Windows Media Player 11, which makes quick work of searching the music service’s 2-million-plus song catalog. It’s a pleasure to use the service to discover new music, thanks to its gorgeous graphical interface and plethora of hand-programmed content, such as playlists and radio stations.”
— PCMag: “While there’s still some work to do before Microsoft launches Windows Media Player 11 for real, it’s a lot more fun to use than any other media player, and just as powerful.”
— PCMag: “Based on our first impression, though, [Urge] could end up being the subscription service to beat once they work out some of the bugs.”
Related: First Look: MTVN Urge/Windows Media Player 11
— MTVN’s Urge On Verge Of Live Beta; Debuts Wednesday With WMP11
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