o mere glitter-tights match-up, our square-off pits heavyweight RealOne Free Player 2.0 against revamped and equally heavy-hitting Windows Media Player 9.0 for the title of most indispensable media player and its coveted slot on your desktop. In a close bout with committed fans in each corner and almost even odds, both players bring to the ring acknowledged prowess in audio and video file playback and media management. With fighters of this size, the determining factors are the extras.

Interface

Windows Media Player and RealOne both entered the ring sporting intuitive, clean interfaces familiar to users of prior versions. Windows Media Player is sleeker in appearance from the start, offering both less and more: simple one-button controls for the features you're likely to use most and an automatic opening to your previous window choice whether it’s a song, library, or playlist. RealOne lets you set your preferences for which component to display and includes an option to remember the last view. These heavyweights also pack compact display options, with Media Player fully utilizing its home field advantage by minimizing all the way to your taskbar. Both of our sluggers are skinnable, but Windows Media Player packs an extra wallop over RealOne, which has a huge number of ready-made, importable skin choices, by letting Windows XP users implement favorite Winamp skins using the Media Bonus Pack conversion tool.

Functionality

Fighters this size take up a lot of room in the ring, and running in jukebox mode in the background produced unsportsmanlike resource-grabbing from both our players. Windows Media Player, with its consistently heavier CPU usage, occasionally glitched audio files, but though RealOne ran lighter overall, task-switching in RealOne noticeably jammed our other programs, warranting a caution from our referee. Although basic sound quality is the same in both players, the XP version of Windows Media Player packs a bruising combination with its auto-leveling tool, which equalizes the volume between disparate audio files, and SRS WOW, which enhances bass and surround audio effects. Irritatingly, SRS WOW produced a minimal effect when tested on low-end speakers. Video playback was equally important in our tussle, with Windows Media Player running marginally more smoothly than RealOne. Both did equally well with streaming media.

Features

Though this new version of Windows Media Player shows time spent in training with improved playlist controls and file-organization capabilities, RealOne maintains an iron-clad grip on the lead for ease-of-use in building and managing media libraries and creating playlists. Window’s Media Player swings past its opponent by offering more built-ins such as a cross-fade feature and more advanced tag-editing capabilities, some of which are available only as plug-in upgrades in RealOne. Playback of all major media formats looks like a knockout blow from RealOne, but it turns out to be a feint, as RealOne depends on installations of Windows Media Player and QuickTime to play Windows Media and QuickTime formats. But RealOne delivers a lethal blow for this round by ripping and burning MP3s straight out of the box. The feature-rich Windows Media Player wimps out by burning only WMAs, making you shell out for third-party add-ons to encode in MP3 format, effectively passing the licensing buck. Both of these powerhouses link to a lot of online content, but RealOne clinches the title by providing more than you’ll ever need and then some.

Quality

These are big boys, and it shows. Both Windows Media Player and RealOne know how to get into the ring in minutes and function like well-honed killers, but neither is prepared to be a graceful loser when it comes to uninstall functions. Watch both of these players carefully during installation, as both load up their gloves with lead. It’s a hard call as to who is the poorer sport when it’s time to throw in the towel. RealOne makes you dig for its removal tool, which wipes all Real programs instead of just RealOne Player, and it leaves bad file associations in its wake. Although users of older Windows versions can delete Windows Media Player using Add/Remove Programs, Windows XP users get no uninstall function and must resort to a full system point restore. Even if you never try to give them the bum’s rush, both of these programs will expend a lot of effort trying to radio the mothership, with RealOne’s egregiously persistent RealEvent.exe updater hammering away at your Internet connection and slowing down the works.

The winner

Chances are, if you already have a previous version of these bruisers, you’d understandably rather stay than switch. Cleaner, easier Windows Media Player 9.0 would have KO’d RealOne Free Player 2.0 if it weren’t for its MP3 glass jaw and uninstaller fouls. The judges give a nod to Windows Media Player’s overall superiority, but the lack of MP3 encoding throws the technical decision in this extremely close match to RealOne Free Player 2.0.

© Download.com