New Windows 11 Media Player App Appears for Insiders

Hey, remember that Windows 11 media player app that leaked in September? Well, you can test it now if you’re in the Dev channel.

“Today we are beginning to roll out the new Media Player for Windows 11 to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel,” Microsoft writes in the announcement post. “We designed the new Media Player to make listening to and watching your multimedia content more enjoyable on Windows 11.”

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The new Media Player app is limited to playing local music and video content and, as you might expect, it will eventually replace the Groove app. In fact, it looks very much like the Groove app, though that app was limited to working just with music content.

(Which begs the question: does this mean Movies & TV is going away too?)

Oddly, Microsoft says it will continue to include the legacy Windows Media Player application in Windows 11.

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Conversation 31 comments

  • kshsystems

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 3:02 pm

    <p>Will this app be supporting DNLA?</p>

  • Bart

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 3:03 pm

    <p>Reading between the lines in the blog post, the legacy app remains until the ‘new’ mediaplayer app will be on feature parity..?</p>

    • dftf

      17 November, 2021 - 3:11 pm

      <p>The only main thing I can think of would be Audio CD ripping. But they should really just add that functionality into <em>File Explorer</em>, and prompt the user for a rip format upon the paste action…</p>

  • egab

    16 November, 2021 - 3:20 pm

    <p>I don’t think they will remove "Movies and TV", at least as long as they offer to rent/buy movies on Xbox. </p>

  • alissa914

    16 November, 2021 - 3:26 pm

    <p>Media player is probably still Codename Zune like it has been since Zune. If I could sync my Zune with it……then I’m even happier</p>

    • dftf

      17 November, 2021 - 3:22 pm

      <p>The folder it is installed inside is named "Microsoft.ZuneMusic", so yes…</p>

  • LT1 Z51

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 4:17 pm

    <p>Hasn’t iTunes proved that a big all inclusive Media Player isn’t needed.</p><p><br></p><p>Also Photo’s plays a lot of videos.</p><p><br></p><p>Why is the legacy Media Player even still around. from Windows 7, version 12? The one with the orange icon? That’s ancient.</p>

    • dftf

      17 November, 2021 - 3:14 pm

      <p>You think that’s bad? Open the "Windows Fax &amp; Scan" app and enjoy the dark-blue toolbar that has not been updated since <em>Vista</em>. And if you bring-up the <em>Cover Editor </em>(in the <em>Tools</em> menu, I think) enjoy that <em>Windows 95</em> era interface!</p>

  • ngc224

    16 November, 2021 - 4:30 pm

    <p>Is Microsoft removing the name ‘Windows’ from the new Media Player?</p>

  • paulwp187

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 4:37 pm

    <p>My Groove app had a 10mb update and became Media Player. Looks like Groove got a new UI. </p>

    • ecumenical

      16 November, 2021 - 5:41 pm

      <p>Yeah, looks like Groove with the services stuff stripped out. And I’m fine with that!</p>

  • Triakis

    16 November, 2021 - 5:49 pm

    <p>I liked using Groove, until it became an add for Spotify. Hopefully that part of the UI has been removed.</p>

  • Informed

    16 November, 2021 - 5:58 pm

    <p>Does the new Media Player preview video while scrubbing (a la YouTube)? If not, what’s the compelling case for an upgrade? Sure, WMP wasn’t updated for a decade +, but so what?</p>

  • jchampeau

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 5:59 pm

    <p>If you asked a hundred "normal" people how they listen to music, would any of them say they listen to their MP3 collection on a Windows PC?</p>

    • mattbg

      Premium Member
      17 November, 2021 - 10:41 am

      <p>Agree – all we really need is something that plays audio files launched from the shell cleanly and efficiently.</p><p><br></p><p>There was a justification for this design when Microsoft had a music service, but not anymore. If someone is so particular about having a local music library, they’ll probably already have a preferred tool for doing that.</p><p><br></p><p>Rather than using the old Windows Media Player as a baseline to refactor, they should be starting with something like Windows 3.x Sound Recorder. That is all that’s needed today.</p>

    • casualadventurer

      17 November, 2021 - 10:41 am

      <p>I do. I have a lot of MP3 content on a NAS that I listen to on my PC when working from home.</p>

      • jchampeau

        Premium Member
        17 November, 2021 - 10:49 am

        <p>But you’re an enthusiast who reads and comments on posts on a Windows and tech news site.</p>

        • Jeffsters

          17 November, 2021 - 7:18 pm

          <p>Well played! </p>

  • thewarragulman

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 6:21 pm

    <p>I never really liked how they split music and video into two seperate apps with Windows 8, which evolved into the Groove Music &amp; Movies &amp; TV apps we have today, always prefered it being in one program so I’ll be happy if this does eventually replace those two apps.</p><p><br></p><p>Keeping the classic Windows 7-era Windows Media Player app is okay as a redundant feature, though it shouldn’t be installed by default. It should be relegated to the "Turn Windows Features on or off" panel within Programs and Features as an optional feature for those who want it. They should have done the same with Media Center as well and that way people would have been happy and Microsoft wouldn’t have had to support it.</p>

    • dftf

      17 November, 2021 - 3:10 pm

      <p>At the moment, it works in the reverse: it is installed by-default, but via "Windows Features" you can choose to remove <em>Windows Media Player</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>(Oddly, even though there is a heading titled "Legacy Components", the only thing listed in there is "DirectPlay". I’d have thought by now, "Windows Fax &amp; Scan" could surely be made removable…)</p>

  • lwetzel

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 7:29 pm

    <p>Doesn’t seem to work on my setup.</p><p><br></p>

  • Donte

    16 November, 2021 - 7:43 pm

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Oddly, Microsoft says it will continue to include the legacy Windows Media Player application in Windows 11"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sadly this kind of stuff is not odd anymore. Its normal for Microsoft. I love Microsoft for a few things, O365 Home, OneNote, and the Xbox. Please do not mess those up.</span></p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2021 - 8:44 pm

    <p>As long as I use Linux more than Windows, I have zero interest in applets like this for Windows alone. In fairness, I don’t give a **** for any Linux-only media players either. VLC is just fine. If that means I can’t use any content from the MSFT Store, fine with me.</p>

  • maktaba

    17 November, 2021 - 5:08 am

    <p>Hmm. They should have released Windows 11 <em>only</em> when all features and apps had been completed, tested and ready for use.</p>

  • rm

    17 November, 2021 - 9:56 am

    <p>Hopefully I can rip CDs with it or I will have to use the old Media Player.</p>

    • fishnet37222

      Premium Member
      17 November, 2021 - 11:29 am

      <p>I use Exact Audio Copy to rip my CDs and LameXP to convert the resulting FLAC files to MP3.</p>

      • faustxd9

        Premium Member
        18 November, 2021 - 2:34 pm

        <p>I need to do that same thing as well. I thought I did it once, but the files got lost in the shuffle. Do you notice a difference between FLAC and the MP3 (I assume 320kb)? </p>

    • dftf

      17 November, 2021 - 3:03 pm

      <p>It’s mad they can’t just add CD-ripping functionality into <em>File Explorer</em>. How hard would it be to default an audio CD to "Details" view, showing the artist, track name and number, year and so-on. And to then simply allow copy-and-paste ripping, asking the user what format to rip to (MP3, M4A, FLAC, WAV or WMA) upon paste?</p>

    • Nabiscuit

      18 November, 2021 - 9:12 am

      <p>What are cds?</p>

  • dftf

    17 November, 2021 - 3:01 pm

    <p>I don’t know why some tech news sites keep saying this is a "revamped Windows Media Player", when clearly it is an updated <em>Groove Music</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>If they simply added the ability to rip music CDs into <em>File Explorer </em>(such as doing a simple copy-and-paste and upon the paste action a pop-up box asked you what format to rip to), then they could retire <em>Windows Media Player</em> entirely, as I can’t see it has any remaining functionality this updated app couldn’t otherwise handle.</p><p><br></p><p>(Though in my personal experience, the other massive thing that needs improving is codec support: <em>Groove Music</em> or <em>Films &amp; TV</em> can’t handle many files I throw their way, so I just default to either <em>Media Player Classic – Home Cinema </em>or the current dev build of <em>VLC Media Player 4.x series</em>)</p>

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