Music player

15 Dec 2007: V0.9.23: Add input plugin info for SID, MP4 and AAC. Show input plugin filenames. Fix crash in SID input module. Correct taskbar system menu - Move and Size now available. Implemented search page buttons. Purge automatically created playlists. Position playlist so current track is in middle of screen. Playlists now stored in My Documents\Player. Spectrum analyser finally synched with music; played with LED colors. Add "stop after current track" stop menu. Fixed skipping to next track when you drag seek bar to end of track. Track back and forward buttons dont play if not currently playing.

Yes, that's right, I too have written a media player (for Windows). Why? I wanted a player that was easy to use. This means that:

It is not skinnable. It uses standard windows controls. It looks and behaves like every other normal application, so you don't have to relearn anything to use this player. Nor are there annoying little bugs or inconsistencies in the GUI * . If you use a general skinning tool like WindowBlinds then it would be skinned like every other application. Amazing concept isn't it.
Some people would no doubt call it boring. It is. It does the job, I assume that you want to listen to the music not fool around with the player.
It is resizable.
It has a built in file browser with a tree view, which you can point to any base directory you like.

It has a built in CD audio view.
The layout is tidy and efficient.
It uses Winamp plugins, so it supports all the formats Winamp does, including MP3 and Modules. You can do all the usual Winamp things with the plugins.
It has a trackbar for seeking that works as you drag it so you get immediate feedback. The trackbar also shows minute or second divisions.
It shows you lots of time and position information, all the time, in a compact way.
It has a easy to use screen for browsing the available input plugins.

The other things I would like it to do:

CDDB - started ...

Drag and drop and other file operations in the browser, to match explorer. (I have means to use actual Explorer tree and file views, but I need to remove some existing columns from the file view and add some new ones. How do I do that?)

(Possibly) multithread the CD operations, since they can take a second or two.

Perhaps it could have another page for visuals, using Winamp plugins. I don't mind prettiness as long as it doesn't interfere with using it!

The next two things I have done in a prototype form:

Integrate an ultra-compact title bar-only view, like Winamp's WindowShade mode, but a little bit bigger so that ordinary humans can see it.
Make the displayed title scroll (though, should it rather be selectable?) and maybe give the display a shaded backdrop for a bit of fun.

* Except the bugs that Microsoft put in there themselves. On the whole, they seem to do so less than people who are primarily concerned with making their application look pretty.