"Windows Media Player 11 will be available via free download beginning Oct. 24 and will enable users to take advantage of an elegant and intuitive user interface, a new level of online store integration, especially with MTV's URGE service, and improved navigation for larger music libraries," stated a Microsoft press release from 12 October.

The fact that the date was tucked away at the bottom of a consistent press release and not applauded up-front suggests that the Redmond Company has taken into consideration the possibility of delaying it. And this is the case since this is how the Windows Media Player website looked at the time of this article (see image on the left). Initially, Microsoft has planned to release Windows Media Player 11 prior to Internet Explorer 7. But with IE7 out and counting in excess of 3 million downloads just in the first four days, Windows Media Player 11 is still in Beta.

A more realistic release date for WMP 11 is October 30. In this context, there have been reports indicating that the last Monday of October will coincide with the general availability for download of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP.