Microsoft teased Media Player for Windows 11 in November 2021
and it was released to the public in early 2022. In the
meantime, Windows Media Player received another update for
testers with new features last month. That update is now being
made available on the new Microsoft Store in Windows 11 for
everyone.
As you’re probably aware, Windows Media Player replaces Groove
Music, the UWP app that’s been the default music player for
Windows after the company discontinued the legacy Windows Media
Player.
This new Media Player is a reboot of Groove Music, but
Microsoft wants to make it a successor to the iconic Windows
Media Player. With today’s update, Windows 11’s modern Media
Player is getting major improvements. The version number is
11.2203.30.0 and it’s available in the production channel with
two notable changes:
- Introduction of Music Library.
- Video enhancements options.
A new music library experience is now available. As you can see
in the above screenshot, it is now possible to quickly switch
between the different views on the artist page when browsing
your collection.
If you don’t see any media files in the library, it’s probably
because you haven’t linked a folder containing songs to the
Media Player. The default view shows the albums in a grid view,
the other shows all the songs and they’re grouped by album.
You can also perform quick actions when you hover over albums,
artists, videos and playlists. These actions include quick
selection and playback options.
Another major change is support for video enhancements options
dialog. This appear when you’re playing a video in Media Player
and it can be accessed if you right-click anywhere on the
playing screen.
A right-click will apparently open a context menu where you can
view new files without navigating to another page. It also
makes it possible to access the album page as well as the
artist page.
A new option “video enhancements” lets you adjust the
brightness and contrast of your video.
Microsoft says it also worked on improving the performance of
Media Player, especially for devices with very large music
libraries.
In addition to Media Player improvements,
Microsoft has also started testing a new Outlook client for
Windows 11.
