The release of Windows 11 was an opportunity for Microsoft to launch many projects, but the question of a new multimedia player was not often invited to the discussion.
Available since October 5th after a few months of beta versions to test most of the features, Windows 11 was mostly perceived as an aesthetic redesign of Microsoft's operating system. However, in many cases, things are more profound and today, the arrival of a new multimedia player application can testify to this. If Windows Media Player was once a flagship application of the OS - especially in the days of Windows XP - this is no longer the case today and users are more inclined to use Media Player Classic or VideoLAN for video and footbar2000 for audio.
The Media Player interface in the presence of an audio file © Microsoft
However, Microsoft is not disarmed and a few days ago, the editor has put the small dishes in the big to present its projects around Media Player. Thus, in a long article published on the Windows blog, Dave Grochocki came back on the work done by his team. The main program manager for Windows Inbox Apps began by indicating that the deployment of the new Windows 11 media player is currently reserved for the Dev channel. In fact, only a few members of the Windows Insider program can currently install and try it.
However, Dave Grochocki sets the tone by saying that Microsoft has " designed the new media player to make listening to and viewing your media content more enjoyable on Windows 11. In fact, the software comes as a reunion, a fusion of the old Media Player and Groove Music applications. Dave Grochocki says: " Media Player beautifully showcases your local music and video collections and integrates seamlessly with the new look of Windows 11" .
Very small, very cute, the interface of the "miniaturized" audio player © Microsoft
Referred to as being " at the heart of Media Player ", the user's music library should allow for very quick browsing of songs and albums. It should also be possible to create and manage playlists easily. At this level, Media Player must gather the user's library and import, in particular, that of Groove Music. Groove Music should be completely removed to make room for Media Player. Microsoft announces to emphasize a rich imagery around the concerned musical artist. Imagery that can be found in both the "full size" and the "mini" versions of the application.
Still the Media Player interface, but facing a video this time © Microsoft
Of course, Media Player can't be satisfied with audio alone and Dave Grochocki also mentions the question of video, even if things are perhaps a little less precise. Microsoft specifies that " browsing, managing and viewing videos " is possible. Fortunately, we are tempted to say. It underlines a particular effort made on the accessibility of the software, but completely ignores the question of supported codecs. No doubt these questions will be the subject of an update to the initial article. Finally, note that the release of the new Media Player should not mean the disappearance of the old Windows Media Player. Microsoft indicates that it will still be available to fans through Windows Tools.
