For those who didn't already know about WMP 9 Mini-Player Mode,i thought i'd post this little tip i just spotted over at ntfs.org

WMP 9 includes a Mini-Player mode that runs on the Windows taskbar. To enable WMP in Mini-Player mode, perform the following steps:

Right-click an unused space on the taskbar.
Select Windows Media Player from the toolbar context menu.

Windows will add a new blank space on the taskbar for the set of controls that will appear when you minimize WMP. When WMP is in Mini-Player mode, you can restore the regular WMP interface by clicking the bottom-right icon on the docked WMP control set.