RE: WMP 11 Bug

As sad as that response was for all of us. It did lift my spirits a bit to
know that someone else has this problem. The problem isn't limited to WMP.
I found a few message boards in my searching that noted problems with
reporting bugs on Microsoft software that they sell for Mac. My initial
reaction is well...duh, but the logical side of me wonders why Microsoft
would not focus on the crowd of people that uses their products on their
competitor's OS. I would be biting at their heels for their business and
hope that it converted a few.

"Dale" wrote:

"Cinna" wrote:

For the most part WMP 11 serves the same purpose that the other versions did
and thats playing video files (for me that is). I'm running this in Windows
Vista Business 64-bit. I'd be more than happy to report an issue with this
play to Microsoft, but apparently they don't care what I have to say since 30
minutes of online searching has gotten me no closer to a bug reporting
website.

They don't have a bug reporting website. The Windows Media Player product
team is the only major product group in all of Microsoft who does not provide
any means for their customers to report bugs or suggestions. In fact, they
also do not monitor these newsgroups officially and reports of bugs and
suggestions made here fall on deaf ears.

While there really is no way at all to communicate with the Windows Media
Player product team, you do have the option of calling Microsoft product
support and speaking with a call center employee who will surely apologize on
Microsoft's behalf that you're having problems with Windows Media Player.
After delivering the apology, that person will have no ability to forward
your bug report directly to the Windows Media Player product team but if he
can convince enough levels of supervisors that a bug exists, there is a
chance that the bug could get forwarded to the Windows Media Player product
team.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. For the privilege of reporting a bug to the
Windows Media Player product team, you must pay Microsoft a fee of anywhere
from $35 (soon to be $59) up to several hundred dollars depending on your
support requirements. At the discretion (whim?) of the call center employee
you speak to, that fee may be waived but don't even bother calling unless
you're prepared to provide a credit card number and prepared to have that
credit card charged.


The error happens most often when a video file is done playing and I close
the player. Immediately after closing the player I receive a pop-up saying
that "Windows Media Player has stopped working". The problem event name is
always APPCRASH. The latest exception code is c0000374 with an exception
offset of 000aa0fb.

What you're describing may not be an unsolvable bug in Windows Media Player.
You may be able to get some help for that here. I have seen some others get
good help on reviewing crash information from WMP here and seen some not get
help.

Of course that doesn't change the frustration you, me, and thousands of
other users feel with the lack of community participation by the Windows
Media Player product team and their refusal to provide any reasonable means
by which we - their paying customers - can provide suggestions and feedback
on the product we purchase from them.


It's pretty sad when a company decides they like the weather on Olympus and
moves themselves far out of reach of the people who use their products. From
what I've seen in my searches it seems the focus is on low level support for
the average Joe and troubleshooting that goes nowhere.

It's not all of Microsoft. Most of Microsoft does a fantastic job of
listening to and considering feedback from their customers - even when they
don't do what I think they should do. It is only the Windows Media Player
product team who refuses to allow any customer involvement in the product.

Not once has the
"Check Online for a Solution and Close the Program" button yielded any
results for anything that has gone wrong for me in Vista.

Vista is still new. Hopefully that will chagne but I haven't ever noticed a
lot of changes in online help in the life of a product.


Am I experiencing a lemon or is this a common bug occurence. If it is a
lemon...can I get a pc software lemon law please.

Microsoft has a lemon policy. If you purchased Vista retail, you can get a
refund from Microsoft for sure. I don't know whether other purchase options
are included in that policy or not. But Vista is a great product with the
exception of it's integral media player.

Dale
.