You can, however, switch modes simply by pressing CTRL+1 (full mode) or CTRL+2 (compact or skin mode). To get rid of that Drop Anchor Window, do the following:

1. At Media Player's menu, select TOOLS, scroll down and select OPTIONS.
2. When the OPTIONS dialog opens, click the PLAYER tab
2. Uncheck "When in compact mode, always display anchor window" (version 7) or "Display anchor window when in skin mode" (version 8)
3. Click OK
4. With Media Player 8, you may also click inside the Anchor Window and choose "Hide Anchor Window" from the pop-up menu.