I used to use media player classic with a mega-codec package on windows. It was basically a freeware open-source WMP clone modeled on the old windows media player 6.4 GUI, the idea being that versions after that became untenable bloatware (and I agree). Though I've had trouble getting all the codecs to work, so about a couple of years ago I switched to VLC player and haven't really looked back. Luckily I can use it on linux too, when Mint's bundled movie-player doesn't work.
For an audio player whilst I was still on Windows, I was always partial to vuplayer, a very under-the-radar but versatile, lightweight, bloat-free little player. I think it's really worth checking out. I wish it worked on linux, otherwise I'd still be using it (using Exaile now for music, which is a serviceable player). Give it a look-see at the project website.
http://www.vuplayer.com/ The guy has stopped updating it since 2007, but really, simple audio players on computers haven't changed that much over the years.