SlingPlayer for Mac Public Beta Review (Page 1 of 9)
It’s been a busy year for Sling Media. From development of two player versions for mobile devices, three new hardware platforms and the long awaited Macintosh client, it’s been a busy year for this growing company. SlingPlayer for Mac was first demoed at Macworld in January of 2006, and since then there’s been a tremendous amount of interest from Mac users... not to mention a tremendous amount of patience from these same people as well. It looks like all the waiting has finally paid off. SlingPlayer for Mac is here! It is not a full 1.0 production release yet (it is still in beta), but at least Mac aficionados can get their hands on it and start using the Slingboxes they purchased after Macworld in January.
I was fortunate enough to have been selected in the third wave of beta testers for SlingPlayer for Mac at the beginning of October 2006. By the time I started playing with the software, it ran relatively well (albeit with a few glitches). Over the last month, the program has steadily become better and more functional. The beta testers have expended an enormous amount of effort to make this program ready for the general public. They have done a great job, and everyone involved should be proud of their efforts and contributions. I am honored to have been selected to work with such a great group of users.
First Look
One of the first questions on the mind of most Mac users is if this program is a true Mac OS-X program or simply a port from Windows. Upon first look, the "die-hard Mac user" may feel that SlingPlayer for Mac falls into the later category. The software looks remarkably like the Windows client in nearly every way. Missing are the red, orange and green window buttons - the look and feel of the player is not "Aqua".
While the initial impression may be that this player does not tend to follow the Mac interface, further investigation will reveal that as this program becomes more and more refined, the Mac look and feel will likely become available. The application is “skinable” so the appearance of the interface can be easily changed.
It likely will not be long before Mac users create numerous Aqua looking skins. In the first public beta release, the skins function is not entirely complete. Existing skins from the Windows version cannot be imported into the program (bad things will happen – trust me on this) at this time, so only the included skins can be used.
The reason the interface looks so much like the Windows version is likely because Sling Media wanted it that way. They wanted a user experience similar to what everyone has come to know on the Windows platform. While that may not be one hundred percent pleasing to the Mac die-hards, it does help provide consistency between platforms. And additionally, since SlingPlayer needs at least 5 different Window controls (close, minimize, dock left, dock right, full screen, restore), it’s hard to accomplish that with the traditional Mac window controls.
Beyond the initial “appearance” though, this program is not a port from Windows. The preference pane, set-up assistant, installation process, etc. are all very Mac like. The program is Universal Binary and runs on both PowerPC and Intel platforms. Plus, the video performance is astounding. Many of the beta testers have remarked that the video performance on the Mac client is better than on Windows. Considering that Sling Media had to develop a way to play a WMV stream on the Mac, this isn’t a small feat.
RSS
