Wininformant At Streaming Media East 2001 this week, Microsoft will unveil a new add-on called the Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP, which includes several new tools and enhancements for the Windows Media technologies in XP. The bonus pack will be available later this month as a free download from the Microsoft Web site; Streaming Media East attendees can pick it up on CD-ROM this week at the show.

The Windows Media Bonus Pack for Windows XP includes

Plus! MP3 Audio Converter LE: A light version of the MP3 Audio Converter application found in Plus! for Windows XP. This tool effectively doubles the amount of music you can store on your PC by converting your existing MP3 files to Windows Media Audio (WMA) format.

Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) PowerToys: A set of new and updated MPXP PowerToys, including the Windows Media Player Tray Control, which offers quick access to MPXP features from the XP taskbar; the Media Library Metadata Update Wizard, which organizes and updates the Media Library and My Music folders; a Playlist Importer for Excel; and more.

New MPXP Visualizations: More than a dozen new visualizations for MPXP, including the MSN Photos picture viewer, a holiday fireplace, Trilogy, and visuals from the forthcoming Microsoft Games title Dungeon Siege.

New MPXP Skins: A set of new custom MPXP skins, including Stars and Stripes, The Sentinel, and the TDK Mixmaster.

Windows Movie Maker (WMM) Creativity Kit: A large collection of professional sound effects, music loops, clips, and title images. Microsoft notes that major motion picture sound studio SoundDogs.com provided the sounds and music.

Special Offers: Special offers from services such as Intertainer, IFILM, and Cinemanow.

The Windows Media Bonus Pack for XP builds on the success of last year's Windows Media Bonus Pack and is likewise unsupported.