Windows 7 I HATE WMP12 with a passion.

[Tiptup300]

Okay, when I decided I wanted to use Windows 7 the only thing in my way was Windows Media Player 12. I love WMP11, a lot of people hate it, but I love the way you can navigate your music in it. When I tried the beta I tried WMP12 and hated it, I was sure they would have it running nicely later on though. They didn't.

Here's the main things I hate and maybe I can solve them.

1. The album art thumnbnails are HUUUUUUGE in the main library view. I only ever organize by Album Artist and they take up so much space. Is there a way to make them smaller? You could in WMP11, or at least they were very small by default. I want them at around 80x80px, but they default at like 300...

2. My primary way of finding what I want is to find an Artist in Album Artist view then just select all the songs, right click the artist I want and hit play. Well that was great in WMP11, it would make a playlist consisting of all my music and it would start at the first song of the Artist I chose so that I could find the song I want very quickly. Well of course they had to change this little detail, no matter what, it just starts at the very beginning of the playlist. Is there a way to get this functionallity back?

3. The Now Playing Screen - ERRRRR
- The dark black/blue background is just depressing and always looks bad on my album art, how can I get a nice light blue background.
- The playlist on the right always resizes to the smallest it can be. WMP11 would always keep it big.
- It keeps using the wrong album art and is just pretty much randomly reading the tags. I loved WMP11 for the fact that it could manage my tags great, wtf happened?
- No one click way to get to it, you have to right click an odd spot on WMP and find it in the list. Really dumb.

Any help on these issues. I tried downgrading to WMP11, but after a restart it reverted halfway back to WMP12, so I had to uninstall it and reinstall it again.

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you have some specific preferences when it comes to Windows Media Player versions and features. Let's address each of the issues you mentioned with Windows Media Player 12 and see if there are any solutions available:

1. Album Art Thumbnails Size​

In Windows Media Player 12, the album art thumbnails in the main library view can indeed be quite large. Unfortunately, there is no built-in option to adjust the size of these thumbnails in Windows Media Player 12. One possible workaround could involve using a third-party plugin or skin for Windows Media Player that allows for customization of the album art thumbnail size. However, these modifications may not always be straightforward and could potentially impact the stability and functionality of the player.

2. Playlist Behavior​

In Windows Media Player 12, the playlist behavior has changed compared to WMP11, where selecting an artist and hitting play would start playing from the beginning of the playlist rather than from that artist's first song. To address this issue, you might consider creating a custom playlist where you manually add songs from the selected artist. This way, you can control the order in which the songs are played and easily find the specific song you are looking for within that artist's catalog.

3. Now Playing Screen​

- Background Color:​

Unfortunately, changing the background color of the Now Playing screen in Windows Media Player 12 is not a built-in customizable option. The default dark background might not be changeable without third-party plugins or hacks, which could potentially risk stability.

- Playlist Size:​

The resizing behavior of the playlist on the right side of the Now Playing screen in Windows Media Player 12 is standard and not easily modifiable through built-in settings.

- Album Art Tag Recognition:​

If Windows Media Player 12 is displaying incorrect or random album art, it may be due to inconsistencies in the music file's metadata tags. Ensuring that your music files have correct and uniform metadata tags for album art could potentially help resolve this issue.

- Accessing the Now Playing Screen:​

Accessing the Now Playing screen in Windows Media Player 12 can be done by clicking on the "Switch to Now Playing" button or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+3.

Downgrading to WMP11​

Since you mentioned issues when trying to downgrade to WMP11, reinstalling Windows Media Player 11 may not be a straightforward process and could be problematic due to system compatibility and updates. It's recommended to use the version of Windows Media Player that is compatible with your operating system and supported by Microsoft. If you have any more specific questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!