WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER. It’s official: Microsoft is preparing a new audio-video player for Windows 11. Currently in testing via Windows Insider, it will replace the aging Groove Music and Movies and TV applications.
Microsoft continues to develop Windows 11. The publisher has even announced an acceleration of the deployment of its new operating system, as John Cable, one of the managers of Windows, indicated in an interview with The Verge. In fact, the Redmond company is gradually abandoning Windows 10, which will now only be entitled to one major annual update against two so far, in favor of Windows 11, which logically continues to grow richer. Thus, in parallel with the test phase aimed at running Android applications in the near future (see our article and our practical sheet to find out more), Microsoft is preparing a brand new audio-video player for Windows 11. Known for the moment under the name emblematic of Media Player – in homage to the venerable multimedia software of older versions of Windows – it should replace both Groove Music and Films and TV, the two applications included as standard in Windows 10. Excellent news insofar as these two very perfectible programs have never really convinced, especially when compared to their many free competitors – like VLC Media Player, Dopamine, AIMP, GOM Player, PotPlayer and other KMPlayer – both richer and more ergonomic.
As Microsoft explains on his blog, the new Media Player will serve as both a media library and a player, providing access to all audio and video content available locally on the PC. The application will know how to automatically manage the files of the Music and Videos folders, but will obviously be possible to add other locations in the “library”. Nothing is specified about remote content, on network drives, for example, but in the era of the cloud and streaming, we can imagine that Microsoft will integrate adapted functions. As it should be, the new Media Player will adopt the graphics codes of Windows 11, which will give a touch of elegance to its interface, with a presentation giving easy access to content and lists. Music playback will be accompanied by the display of covers – when they are available – and Microsoft promises many keyboard shortcuts to facilitate handling. The publisher, however, does not say anything about the recognized formats, but we can reasonably assume that the new Media Player will be able to play all the classic codecs and containers (MP3, MP4, AAC, Flac, AVI, MKV, etc.), including for very high definition videos, encoded in H.264, H.265 or AV1, while managing HDR, a function available as standard in Windows 11.
For now, the new Media Player is available in an unfinished version through the Windows Insider channels of Microsoft’s test program, in order to gather opinions. The publisher does not say anything about its deployment in Windows 11, but we can imagine that it will arrive in the coming weeks or early 2022, automatically replacing Groove Music and Films and TV. For the anecdote, the publisher recalls that the old Media Player is still available in Windows 10 and 11, under the name of Windows Media Player, hidden in the Windows accessories. But, given its outdated functions and interface, it’s a safe bet that many still use it, apart from a few die-hard nostalgics.