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Windows XP

• February 20, 2003 •

Microsoft Releases Free Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP

By: Arie Slob

Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP As a special "thanks" for fans of the Windows XP digital media experience, Microsoft is offering a free Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP! Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP is packed with utilities, PowerToys, visualizations, skins, sound effects, and much more.

Note: The Bonus Pack components are not supported by Microsoft Corporation.

Minimum system requirements

The hardware and software requirements for Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP are as follows:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional
  • A 350MHz processor (500MHz or faster recommended)
  • 64MB of RAM (128MB or higher recommended)
  • 300MB of free hard disk space
  • VGA video resolution monitor (Super VGA (800 600) or higher video resolution monitor recommended)
  • CD-ROM or DVD drive, keyboard, Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
  • An Internet connection may be required for some features.
  • Windows XP compatible sound card and speakers or headphones
  • 256-color video card
  • 3-D graphics acceleration and 16MB or more of video memory may be required for some features. The video adapter must be compatible with Windows XP


Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP

The Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP contains:

Plus! MP3 Audio Converter LE

Sample a feature of Plus! for Windows XP, double the amount of music you can store on your computer, and easily transfer more music to portable devices by converting your MP3 files quickly and easily to Windows Media Audio (WMA). Because of the efficiency of Windows Media Format, the resulting Windows Media files are typically much smaller than the original MP3 files. Using Plus! MP3 Converter LE does not modify the original files in any way.

Windows Media Player Skins

Windows Media Bonus Pack includes a variety of attractive new skins for Windows Media Player for Windows XP.

Windows Media Player Visualizations

Windows Media Bonus Pack includes several intriguing visualization collections for Windows Media Player for Windows XP.

Windows Media Player for Windows XP Powertoys

Windows Media Player for Windows XP Powertoys provides a variety of enhancements to Windows Media Player. The Powertoys include:

  • Windows Media Player for Windows XP Tray Control
    Provides quick and simple access to your most common tasks in Windows Media Player such as volume and mute control, next track, play, and pause functionality with a single click. As an added bonus, you can use the Most Recently Used List cleaner feature to clear this list as frequently as you want.

  • Media Library Management Wizard
    This is a useful Powertoy designed to help you organize and manage your music files, and to add track numbering, missing album art, and media information to music files copied to your computer using Windows Media Player 7 or later.

  • Playlist Import to Excel Wizard
    This wizard offers an easy way to import audio and video playlists (with the .asx file name extension) from Microsoft Windows Media Player into a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel 2002 or later.

    After the playlist is imported to Excel, you can sort and retrieve information for each item in the list, including the name, artist, genre, and bit rate of each file, using the AutoFilter and Sort features in Excel. You can also export the file to HTML to quickly create a Web page containing a catalog of all the audio and video items in the playlist. Additionally, you can chart and graph statistical information about items in the playlist and use the information in other ODBC-compliant programs (such as Microsoft Access).

  • Windows Media Player Skin Importer
    Windows Media Player Skin Importer enables you to convert Winamp skins into Windows Media Player skins.

Windows Movie Maker Creativity Kit

Enhance your home videos and unleash your creativity with this expansive collection of sound effects, music clips and loops, and title slides and videos. Whatever the occasion, theres something here that will help you make your home movies even better! All sounds and music are provided by SoundDogs.com. SoundDogs.com has delivered sound effects for over sixty feature films, including Academy Award nominated films Meet The Parents, The Wonder Boys, As Good As It Gets, The Green Mile, Titanic, Stuart Little, and Jerry Maguire.

Title Sampler for Windows Movie Maker

Enhance your videos with this set of title slides that will kick off or end your home movies in style. The sampler includes "Our Summer Vacation," "Happy Birthday," and "It's a Boy," plus many others. There are even three video titles, including a real movie countdown sequence as well as a "The End" clip.

Music Sampler for Window Movie Maker

Add professional music and loops to your movie, courtesy of SoundDogs.com. Theres a range of music to select from, including jazz, hip hop, reggae, and house music. Whatever the mood of your creation, theres a music track here that will complement it.

Sound Effects Sampler for Windows Movie Maker

Add great sound effects to your movies, courtesy of SoundDogs.com. This sample includes dozens of effects such as speeding cars, crowd sounds, horns and bells, household sounds, animals, and much more.

You can download the Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP from the Microsoft Windows Media Web site, or download the Net Install [172KB] (The Bonus Pack Net installer will download only the components you select). You can also download the Full Install [18.2MB].

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Last Updated: February 20, 2003