I'm still in survey mode, but I'd like to get some feedback on how people are utilizing this technology today:

1) Do you use Directshow Editing Surfaces for any multimedia editing tasks in your application?

2) Are you using Directshow for file playback?  Or do you use lower level APIs (such as WaveOut) or higher level APIs (such as the Windows Media Player object model)?

If there was 1 feature you would add to Directshow, what would it be?

The initial post over at Channel9 started some great feedback on Windows digital media.  I'd like to ask the first of (hopefully many) questions about how people typically consume digital media on their PCs.

This first question is, what other applications are you typically running while you are playing back audio or video? 

For example, do you typically have a media player minimized in the background playing music while you check your email, surf the internet, or do other things? 

Do you ever play video in the background or in a small window why you are accomplishing various tasks?  I'd love to hear this type of information about your usage patterns while playing back audio or video. 

Even better, if there are other specific applications or tasks that typically cause problems with your playback experiences.  Let's hear those too.