yPlay - 1.0.76

yPlay is a freeware MP3, Ogg*, WMA, WAV, FLAC* and Midi player with multiple playlists and a light, clean interface. But why did I write it when there are other free mp3 and ogg music playing software programs out there already?

First, I find too many music players have tiny, ambiguous controls and overly complicated menu structures. I want computer programs to look like computer programs so I can quickly work out how to use them. If I want something that looks like a piece of hardware, I'll buy the hardware instead.

Even worse, many players are the digital equivalent of having your teenage kids move back home. They take over your computer, leave odd things all over the place, and you never know exactly what they're doing behind your back.

Finally, as computers have become more and more powerful, media players have become more and more power-hungry. I'm only interested in quickly finding and playing a particular track or playlist, not swirly pictures and virtual lava lamps. yPlay has a filter built into the main screen - type in part of the title or artist and the list will only display matching tracks. Double-click the track you want, close the player to the system tray and forget about it. And if you don't feel like listening to the next track, the system tray icon has a right-click menu with skip, pause, play, etc built right into it. (I got a big surprise the other day - I dragged an MPG file onto the yPlay files list and it started to play - as a video. Not officially supported, but the progress bar works on those too.)