Microsoft's Windows Media Player has been the target of much criticism. When XP
was introduced, its inability to play with DVD movies drew complaints, and then the EU competition authorities criticised its monopolisation of the media player market because of the interlocking with the OS.

Users get annoyed with some of Windows Media Player's other features; for example, the first time it runs, Player grabs all the current media file type associations and checks, without asking, for available updates or alternative codecs. However, it doesn't support the popular iPod music player.

If you still want to use Windows Media Player despite all its faults, you can control the way in which it checks for updates and looks for codecs. Choose Tools/Options in the Player and then choose either once a day, once a week or once a month in the Automatic Updates section. On the same tab, there's an option for preventing the automatic download of codecs.

If you have media files in assorted file formats, then you ought to consider replacing Windows Media Player with VLC - a tool that stands out because of its superb codec collection, which means you don't need additional programs for DVD playback or playing DivX and Quicktime. If neither Windows Media Player nor VLC support a format, Gspot (see GSpot Codec Information Appliance) can help. This freeware program works out which decoders are needed to play the file.

If you'd rather not be dependent upon iTunes for transferring files to your iPod, use Winamp 5.24 with the ML iPod Plug-in. If the module is installed, you can access your iPod via the Devices listing in the Winamp Library. By right-clicking on one or more music files on the player, you can add the songs to a playlist, remove titles from the iPod or copy them to your computer, none of which iTunes can do.