Rip
high-quality MP3s in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP)
Contributed
by Mark Elder, updated by Paul Thurrott
The relationship between Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) and the MP3
audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, MPXP is able to playback
MP3 files out of the box, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio
into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. During the Windows XP beta,
Microsoft supplied a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it was
limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless, leading some to report
that Microsoft was purposefully hobbling MP3 to make its Windows Media
Audio (WMA) format look better. This is not the case.
To enable MP3 encoding in Windows XP, you'll need to to purchase one of three MP3 Creation Add-on packs for Windows XP. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Web site.
