So far so good here with wmp9. I don't do a lot of music downloading etc, just listen to the radio and check out some movie trailers, but the speed and quality seem to be a definite improvement over provious versions. Some radio sites (eg village voice radio) are "optimized" for wmp9, whatever that means, but sound quality is very good, and I only drop out very rarely. Right now I'm listening to KEXP (University of Washington station supported by Paul Allens Experience Music Project) streaming at 1411kbps!!! Funny that even though I live near Seattle and could listen on the radio, the sound quality is better on the computer!
MS seems to be making some small consolations to not being so heavy handed (even though they required activation for the new media edition Plus!, sheesh), and you can disable most of the obnoxious "we'll go ahead and collect a lot of information from you when you're listening" features. I will never use Real again just because of their heavyhandedness.
I also would be interested in comments on the relative picture/sound quality with other players.....
kip