Media Player ships in 1992(?).  Supports AVI, WAV, MIDI.
Windows 95 ships on August 24 1995.
    ActiveMovie 1 ships in July 1996.  Supports MPEG, MOV, AVI (RIFF), MIDI
    ActiveMovie 2
    NetShow 1 ships on Dec 11 1996.
    NetShow 2 ships on June 27 1997.
Windows 98 (4.10.1998) ships on June 25 1998.  It includes NetShow and ActiveMovie 2.0 as optional components.
    5.1.51.421 is the WMP 5.2 beta.
    5.1.52.701 is the WMP 5.2 release. Available around July 6 1998.
    6.0.2.902 is the WMP 6.0 release.  (Included with the DirectX Media 6 redist.)
Windows 98 SE (4.10.2222A) ships on May 5 1999.  WMP 6.1 is included as a non-optional component.
    6.1.5.130 is the WMP 6.0 IE5 RC0 beta.  Drops RealNetworks support.
    6.1.5.217 is the WMP 6.0 IE5 RTW version.
    6.1.7.217 is the WMP 6.0 release.  June 25 1998
    6.2.5.410 is the WMP 6.2 beta.  Adds WMA, MP43, and DRM support.
    6.4.5.809 is the WMP 6.4 release.  Nov 22 1999
    6.4.6.* is the WMP 6.4 for Windows 2000 betas only.
    6.4.7.1028 is the WMP 6.4 release with MBR updates for IE.
    6.4.7.1112 is the WMP 6.4 release with MBR updates.  Some minor error messaging updates from version 6.4.7.1028.
Windows 2000 (5.0) ships on Feb 17 2000
    6.4.9.* is the WMP 6.4 for Windows 2000 only.
Windows Me ships on Sept 14 2000.
    7.0.0.1444 -- WinMe - Sept 14 2000
    7.0.0.1954 -- live release on July 17 2000
    7.0.0.1956 -- released within a month or so for some big issue
    7.10.0.3555? -- 7.1
Windows XP (5.1.0.2600) ships on Oct 25 2001
    8.0.0.4477 -- WinXP-only release, WMP8 aka Windows Media Player for Windows XP
Windows XP SP1 ships on Sept 9 2002 (with WMP8)
    9.0.0.???  ships on Jan 27 2003.
Windows XP SP2 ships on Aug 6 2004 (with WMP9)
Windows MCE 2005 ships with WMP10 on Sept 2 2004.
    10.0.0.2600 -- XP-only RTM
    10.0.0.3802 -- Loki - WMP10 + DRM updates
    10.0.0.4332 -- Emerald - MediaCenter-only DRM updates + WMP10

    Windows Me: 7.0.0.1440
    WMP7 RTW: 7.0.0.1954
    Windows XP: 8.0.0.4477
    XPSP1: 8.0.0.4487
    WMP9 RTW: 9.0.0.2980
    Server 2003 RTM: 9.0.0.2991
    XPSP2: WMP 9.0.0.3344
    WMP10 RTW: 10.0.0.3646
    Server 2003 SP1: 10.0.0.3700
    WMP10 DRM Update RTM: 10.0.0.3802
 
    MCE (Tier 1 OEMs only based upon XP RTM)
    MCE 2003: 8.0.0.?
    MCE 2004 (Harmony): 9.0.0.2980 (Via mpsetupxp.exe on MCE2004 CD2)
    MCE 2005 (Symphony): 10.0.0.3646 (? I think - not sure - it was definitely 10, though) shipped on Oct 12 2004
    MCE 2005 Update Rollup 2 (Emerald): 10.0.0.4332 (I believe)


WMP 5.2 would have previously been called the Netshow v3 client.  
Since the technology in WMP stems largely from the NetShow and 
ActiveMovie Control clients, the previous client versions before 
5.2 depend on what aspects of the client you're referring to.  
The 5.x version moniker comes from the DirectX versioning, 
since WMP 5.x is based upon DirectShow.

WMP 6.4 would have previously been called the NetShow v4 client.

WMP 5.2 includes:
	Microsoft MPEG4 v1, v2 video codec
	ACELP filter
	FHG filter
	Voxware MetaSound/MetaVoice audio codecs
	Vivo G.723 audio
	Vivo H.263 video
	ClearVideo filter
	VDO VDO.net video codec
	L&H audio codec
	Duck TruMotion video filter
	RealNetworks 4.0 support

WMP 6.0 includes:
	Microsoft MPEG4 v1, v2 video codec
	ACELP filter
	FHG filter
	Voxware MetaSound/MetaVoice audio codecs
	Vivo G.723 audio
	Vivo H.263 video
	ClearVideo filter
	VDO VDO.net video codec
	L&H audio codec
	Duck TruMotion video filter
	RealNetworks 4.0 support

WMP 6.1 includes:
	Microsoft MPEG4 v1, v2 video codec
	ACELP filter
	FHG filter
	Voxware MetaSound/MetaVoice audio codecs
	Vivo G.723 audio
	Vivo H.263 video

WMP 6.4 includes:
	Microsoft MPEG4 v1, v2, v3 video codec
	Windows Media Audio codec
	ACELP filter
	FHG filter
	Voxware MetaSound/MetaVoice audio codecs
	Vivo G.723 audio
	Vivo H.263 video