Songbird, the Mozilla-based desktop media player that's been in alpha since last year, has finally moved to beta status - or, as the Songbird crew is calling it, "test flight." Version 0.2 is available for download for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Songbird, as we've mentioned before, is a combination media player and web browser that can connect to almost any audio or video content on the web. When I first heard about it several months ago, it was available only for Windows. Enamored with the cute little farting bird icon, I sighed, bookmarked Songbirdnest.com, and hoped that one day it would be available for Mac.

That day has come, and I eagerly downloaded the "test flight" tonight. I'm sad to say I was a bit disappointed. I'm trying not to be overly judgmental; this is still a beta version, after all. But aside from the web browsing features, I really didn't have much luck at all with Songbird. When I tried to scan for audio files on my computer, Songbird insisted there was "no media to add!" When I tried to import an iTunes playlist, I received a cryptic error message. Sometimes the 'cancel' button on dialog boxes wouldn't work. And the interface for subscribing to podcasts has me flummoxed; I entered the URL of a podcast feed, but instead Songbird just took me to the URL via its built-in browser.

I still have high hopes for Songbird. If done right, it could be the next big thing in desktop media. It's open source, built on Mozilla's XULRunner platform, touts support for practically every media format out there - and don't forget the absolutely adorable mascot!

So, what are your thoughts about Songbird? If anyone has had a more positive experience, I would be very interested to hear about it.

Update: Songbird developer Nivi points out that this actually isn't a beta release, it's a pre-beta release. Thanks, Nivi!