Microsoft has just officially unveiled a new media player for Windows 11 after a screenshot in a Windows Insider webcast hinted at its existence in September.
The new media player, which will be available first to beta testers enrolled in the Windows Insider program’s Dev Channel, is intended to make watching multimedia content on Windows 11 more entertaining. When compared to the previous Groove media player in Windows 11, you should notice a cleaner user interface that is more in line with other fundamental Windows 11 experiences such as the new Clock App and Paint. The status bar at the bottom, for example, is now cleaner and narrower.
The new Media Player now includes a comprehensive music library. According to Microsoft, this library would allow you to “easily explore and play music, as well as create and manage playlists.” If you are already using the Groove Music Player as your default in Windows 11, you will be transferred to the new experience. The old Groove Music app is being phased out, and it will be replaced by an update to the new media player. You can also configure the media player to look for material in certain locations.
Album art and rich artist artwork are among the other features in this new media player. Microsoft has even released a new mini player that displays the images. The mini player will allow you to browse, manage, and watch your local video collection.
The fact that Microsoft has included a new media player in Windows 11 does not imply that the previous one will be phased out. The business intends to continue supporting the Windows Media Player, which has been available since Windows XP. This can be found in the Windows Tools folder. It seeks feedback on the new experience, which is still in the early stages of development.
You might still encounter some issues if you test it out today. According to Microsoft, there is a problem limiting media playback from network locations, as well as certain difficulties with album information. The early version of the software may also fail to recognize your Windows theme.
This media player will be updated in the future so that you can explore your music and video collections and manage your play queue. These could be released in beta first. Everyone else can look forward to seeing the new media player in the standard version of Windows 11 in a few weeks or months.