HELP: Windows Media Player 10, 2000 version woes :S

I love Windows Media Player 10. However I recently downgraded my Windows XP
Professional to Windows 2000 Advanced Server because I want to familiarise
myself with the "Server" series. I then realise Windows Media Player 10 is
not supported by Windows 2000, and is only for XP (and above). I know the
last WMP version that works on Windows 2000 is version 9. But I would like
10 since version 10 is more superior player.

Is it possible compiling Windows Media Player 10 for 2000 please, or at
least make it compatible? I know Windows Media Player 10 is based off .NET
code, but .NET framework is available on Windows 2000. So why the blockage
of not letting 2000 users install Windows Media Player 10?

I, too, want to run Windows Media Player 10 on Windows 2000 and I don't care
if I have to live with a stripped-down version as long as I can share a
WMP10-created library database with several other computers off a central
music drive on my network. This has always been my number 1 requirement and
they finally allowed that on WMP10 and things are working great, but now I
want to get my daughter's Windows 2000 computer onto that same network,
sharing the same library database, and I can't do it because of someone's
"strategic" decision. Seems to me that this decision really tends to
alienate the most devoted among us long term Microsoft customers. I'd like
someone from Microsoft to explain to me how this makes any sense when they
are breaking their own tradition of backwards compatibility. What gives?
Maybe they need to come to grips with the fact that some people think Windows
2000 still kicks XP's butt. I'll tell you one thing ... Windows 2000 is
night and day faster at opening programs, configuration dialogues, etc. But,
yes, I know, I'm diverging from topic.

"KevinGPO" wrote:

> I love Windows Media Player 10. However I recently downgraded my Windows XP
> Professional to Windows 2000 Advanced Server because I want to familiarise
> myself with the "Server" series. I then realise Windows Media Player 10 is
> not supported by Windows 2000, and is only for XP (and above). I know the
> last WMP version that works on Windows 2000 is version 9. But I would like
> 10 since version 10 is more superior player.
>
> Is it possible compiling Windows Media Player 10 for 2000 please, or at
> least make it compatible? I know Windows Media Player 10 is based off .NET
> code, but .NET framework is available on Windows 2000. So why the blockage
> of not letting 2000 users install Windows Media Player 10?
>
>
>

Mark wrote:
> I, too, want to run Windows Media Player 10 on Windows 2000 and I don't care
> if I have to live with a stripped-down version as long as I can share a
> WMP10-created library database with several other computers off a central
> music drive on my network. This has always been my number 1 requirement and
> they finally allowed that on WMP10 and things are working great, but now I
> want to get my daughter's Windows 2000 computer onto that same network,
> sharing the same library database, and I can't do it because of someone's
> "strategic" decision. Seems to me that this decision really tends to
> alienate the most devoted among us long term Microsoft customers. I'd like
> someone from Microsoft to explain to me how this makes any sense when they
> are breaking their own tradition of backwards compatibility. What gives?

With the big security focus at Microsoft over the last few years, it
becomes very expensive from a development and test standpoint to make
some newer software work on older platforms.

> Maybe they need to come to grips with the fact that some people think Windows
> 2000 still kicks XP's butt. I'll tell you one thing ... Windows 2000 is
> night and day faster at opening programs, configuration dialogues, etc. But,
> yes, I know, I'm diverging from topic.

It might be faster in these things, but Windows XP will have additional
infrastructure that WMP needs and that would have to be completely
rewritten to work on Windows 2000.