i find it plays just about anything including audio/video ts files (dvd rips) and it handles hd content too,i have also installed k lite mega codec pack which it may or may not use.
wmp is as good at ripping discs as any other, especially with nero plug in, burning them's a different matter, it burns well to music cdr but data cdr's i've had mega trouble with.
if i'm going to copy a disc, i rip it on wmp variable bit rate, then burn it on a music cd, almost indistiguishable on my hifi which disc is which. my jvc xl z 674 and rx6001 mith mission m30 series speakers you can't tell them apart, ripping data discs is best done on nero or something similar and won't be playable on older cd players that dont read mp3 cdr's, whereas ripping at vbr and burning to music disc will play on any cd player, but you only get one album per cd.