No, I don’t think it is. On the contrary, Windows Media Player 11 is actually my favorite media player on the market, handily beating iTunes 7 in terms of speed, usability, and aesthetics. That said, as it was put in MS Tech Today:

I’m confused about Microsoft’s choice of having Zune utilize a completely seperate player/music management...[Microsoft is] going to be pushing Zune hard - does that mean they will be pushing WMP 11 less?

Interestingly, I have no more sense of what’s happening over there with WMP and Zune than anyone else. I love WMP 11, and I hope that WMP 12 is soon in coming.

[This message was pre-recorded; Aaron is currently on vacation]