Remember Windows Media Player skins?

It's been a long time since I've used WMP, probably about a decade? Back when laptops still came with a disc drive, and windows 7 was still the main operating system for many. If you're anything like me, you miss Windows 7, you miss Windows 98, Windows 95... Windows XP... 

But for me, Windows 7 was a particularly lovely and memorable OS, and it feels simultaneously like forever, and no time at all since it was such a relevant OS in my life. Which, is why I've decided to bring you a little blast from the past to remind you how good we used to have it, especially in today's day and age where everything is... Well, I'm sure you know how things are now, no use beating the dead horse. 

Why use WMP? Well, I'm sure many of you are tired of your over-reliance on streaming for all your media goods. Personally, I'm tired of Spotify, and every other alternative to Spotify. I don't have an iPod either (which is another great alternative.) Nor do I have a CD player, or CDs to burn, nor do I have any money for CDs! Sure, you can just play everything on Youtube, I guess. But maybe the audio quality isn't good enough for you, maybe you're tired of the ads, maybe you're boycotting Youtube, or maybe you just want to have everything you love offline.

 There's plenty of good reasons to give your old friend WMP a shot again. Especially if you're as obsessed with 2000's aesthetics as I am, and especially if you love customizable little things for your PC. 

So you want to hit up WMP for some fun like old times, huh? Here's a website you'll find particularly helpful for your WMP skin needs. 

https://wmpskinsarchive.neocities.org

That right there is all you'll need. Make a nice little folder for yourself, stuff all your Definitely Legally Obtained goodies in there, your music, your podcasts, audio books, movies, tv shows. (Note that not all skins will be compatible with video features or all video resolutions, try and see what works!) 

Well, maybe you need a little help applying your skin! Here's what you'll do... Put all your skins in a neat little file with the rest of your media. Open your WMP (If you cannot find it, use your taskbar search to look for your Windows Media Player, after finding it I suggest pinning it to your taskbar!) 
Don't have WMP? Go download it somewhere, you're smart enough to figure that out, I think. 

Got your skins and WMP? Open WMP, click on the skin you wish to apply in your files and let it download. Ignore any warnings about the file. It should apply automatically! 

Want to see your skin library? Each skin you download will be stored. To see them and select them from within WMP, hit ALT while in the WMP library, navigate to View, then Skin chooser. Click the skin you wish to enable, then hit ALT and navigate to View again and hit Skin to toggle back into the skin. Need back into the library? Your skin may have a button to toggle back to the library, or you can right click and select Switch to Library. 

Where should I download my media? Well, I'd always suggest visiting the Internet Archive to look for your goods, I find this to be one of the safest and most extensive sites for this type of thing. Remember, pirate at your own risk!

https://archive.org

Edit: I NOW HOST FILES FOR DOWNLOAD ON SOULSEEK! Looking for FLACs? (For some of you who don't know, this is a high quality audio format.) This is a good place to look. Download Soulseek below. 

https://www.slsknet.org/news/node/1 

(Be careful what you download on here, there's some nasty freaks who upload shit on here. If you're a minor, I'd steer clear of Soulseek. Stay safe.)
 

Might I add... Whenever you are able, please support the people who make the things you love (unless they're horrible people, in which more power to you.) But if there's a new up and coming band you like? Maybe check if they have a Bandcamp where you can legally purchase their music. Show your favorite artists some love. 

And now... Here are some of my favorite WMP skins, if you needed further convincing. (Plenty more where these came from, and probably some custom ones out there people have made if you go digging.)