Laily UPN
In the ecosystem of personal computing, few tasks are as fundamental as playing a local video file. For decades, Windows users took this simplicity for granted, thanks to the robust, albeit aging, infrastructure of the legacy Windows Media Player. However, as Microsoft pivots toward a more modern, integrated, and cloud-connected vision for Windows 11, the user experience surrounding media consumption has become increasingly contentious.
Microsoft recently pushed a new Insider Preview update—version 11.2605.14.0—to its modern Windows 11 Media Player. While the update aims to resolve long-standing interface frustrations and functional gaps, it has inadvertently reignited a debate regarding bloatware, system resource efficiency, and the company’s aggressive monetization of essential file codecs. As the new app struggles to outperform a piece of software that debuted during the Windows 7 era, users are left wondering: Is progress actually making our computing experience worse?
The Core Conflict: Modernity vs. Efficiency
The crux of the current controversy lies in the performance disparity between the "modern" Media Player, which serves as the default application for Windows 11, and its spiritual predecessor. In the eyes of many power users and tech enthusiasts, a media player is a utility—a tool that should be lightweight, near-instantaneous, and invisible in its resource footprint.
Recent benchmarking conducted by Windows Latest has provided empirical weight to these grievances. When comparing the two versions, the modern Media Player consumes approximately 377MB of RAM while sitting idle. In sharp contrast, the classic Windows Media Player, a legacy application designed nearly 17 years ago, operates at a mere 103.4MB of RAM. This nearly fourfold increase in memory usage for essentially the same core function—decoding and playing media—highlights the heavy cost of the modern application’s reliance on the Windows App SDK and its complex, layered architecture.
Beyond raw RAM usage, the modern app exhibits tangible latency. Users have reported that opening local video files in the new player is noticeably slower than in the legacy version. In an era where hardware acceleration and SSD speeds have reached unprecedented heights, a regression in software responsiveness is particularly glaring.
A Chronology of the Modern Media Player’s Evolution
To understand how we reached this point, one must look at the trajectory of Microsoft’s media strategy over the last half-decade.
- 2021: The Windows 11 Rebrand: As part of the rollout of Windows 11, Microsoft announced it would be replacing the venerable "Groove Music" and the legacy Windows Media Player with a new, unified "Media Player." The goal was to provide a modern, sleek interface that aligned with the "Mica" design language of Windows 11.
- 2022: The Transition Phase: Microsoft began phasing out the classic media player, moving users toward the new app while keeping the legacy version accessible as a "Windows Tools" feature for those who found the new interface lacking.
- June 2024 (The Current Update): Version 11.2605.14.0, released on June 12 as part of the Experimental Insider Preview, introduced significant quality-of-life updates. It aimed to address minor playback errors, improve file indexing visibility, and sync caption styling with system-wide preferences.
- Post-Update Reception: Despite the functional improvements, the update failed to address the underlying architectural bloat, leading to the current public outcry regarding performance.
The Feature Breakdown: What’s New in 11.2605.14.0?
It would be disingenuous to suggest that the latest update brought no value. In fact, Microsoft has addressed several practical pain points that have plagued the application since its inception.
Refined Accessibility and Captioning
One of the most requested features was a better integration of accessibility tools. The new update allows the Media Player to pull caption styling directly from Windows system settings. This means users no longer have to fiddle with app-specific settings; if they have customized their system-wide font size, color, or background for accessibility, the Media Player will automatically respect those preferences.
Indexing Transparency
One of the most frustrating aspects of the new Media Player has been its sometimes-opaque library management. Users often found that files were missing from their library, with no indication of whether the app was still scanning or had encountered a fatal error. The new update introduces a clear, visible indexing banner that informs users when the app is actively scanning a folder. This removes the guesswork and provides a clear signal that the app is working in the background.
Robustness and Error Handling
Microsoft has also implemented a series of "under-the-hood" improvements:
- Codec Reporting: The app now provides much clearer, more actionable error messages when a file fails to play due to a missing codec.
- Playlist Integrity: The system now blocks the creation of "unnamed" playlists, preventing accidental clutter in the user’s music library.
- Stability Patches: A critical fix was deployed to resolve a crash that occurred when users attempted to edit their play queue, a frequent point of failure in previous versions.
The "Codec Tax": The HEVC and AC-3 Controversy
While performance is a significant point of contention, the user experience is further degraded by Microsoft’s approach to codec licensing. The most prominent example is the HEVC (H.265) video format.
HEVC is the current industry standard for high-efficiency video recording on modern smartphones, including all recent iPhones and a wide array of Android devices. Despite this ubiquity, Microsoft requires users to purchase the "HEVC Video Extensions" from the Microsoft Store for $0.99 to enable playback in the native Media Player.
From a legal standpoint, Microsoft points to patent royalty obligations—a cost they must pass on to the end user. However, from a consumer perspective, this creates a bizarre "gotcha" moment: a user captures a high-quality video on their phone, transfers it to their PC, and is then prompted to pay for the privilege of viewing their own content in the default app.
Furthermore, the recent shift in Windows 11 version 24H2 has seen the removal of built-in AC-3 support. AC-3 is a legacy audio format commonly used in surround sound and older DVD/Blu-ray structures. Its removal means that users attempting to play older files or specific video rips may find themselves with video but no audio, again necessitating third-party solutions or paid add-ons.
Implications for the Windows Ecosystem
The current state of the Media Player is symptomatic of a larger issue within the Windows development team: the tension between "modernizing" the OS and maintaining the utility-first philosophy that made Windows a power-user favorite for decades.
The Rise of Third-Party Alternatives
The most immediate implication of these frustrations is the mass exodus of users to third-party software. Open-source solutions such as VLC Media Player and MPV have thrived precisely because they avoid the pitfalls Microsoft is currently falling into. These applications:
- Require no licensing fees: They include their own decoders, supporting HEVC and AC-3 out of the box.
- Maintain a tiny footprint: They are significantly more efficient with RAM and CPU cycles.
- Prioritize Function over Form: They focus on playing the file, regardless of its source, without the need for cloud-integrated libraries or telemetry-heavy interfaces.
The "Default App" Credibility Gap
When the default application provided by the operating system creator is perceived as inferior to free, third-party software, it undermines the value proposition of the platform. If a user has to install VLC on every fresh installation of Windows 11 just to ensure their files work, the native Media Player effectively becomes "bloatware"—an application that takes up space but offers no utility.
Future Outlook: A Call for Optimization
Microsoft is at a crossroads. The company has clearly invested significant time in the aesthetic and accessibility-focused aspects of the Media Player. The UI is consistent with the Windows 11 design language, and the integration of accessibility settings is a welcome, professional addition. However, software beauty is skin-deep if the underlying engine is sluggish.
To win back the trust of the power-user community, Microsoft must focus on three areas in the coming months:
- Resource Optimization: The 377MB RAM footprint is unjustifiable for a simple media player. The team must look at the underlying framework and perform a "lightweighting" pass to bring the application closer to the efficiency of its predecessor.
- Universal Codec Support: The $0.99 paywall for HEVC is a source of constant friction. Microsoft should look into absorbing these licensing costs or finding a way to provide standard, common-use codecs for free to all Windows 11 users to ensure a seamless "out-of-the-box" experience.
- Performance Parity: The "Time to First Frame" for a video file should be near-instant. If a 17-year-old application can load a file faster than a modern, optimized one, the modern app is failing its most fundamental test.
Conclusion
The evolution of the Windows 11 Media Player serves as a cautionary tale of modern software development. In the pursuit of a unified, cloud-connected, and visually consistent ecosystem, the core requirements of efficiency and reliability are sometimes sacrificed.
While the June 12 update represents a positive step in terms of usability and stability, the fundamental issues of resource consumption and codec accessibility remain unaddressed. For now, the legacy of the Windows Media Player lives on, not in the app itself, but in the performance bar that the current team has yet to clear. Until Microsoft can prove that "modern" does not have to mean "heavy," users will likely continue to seek refuge in the arms of the open-source community, treating the native Media Player as little more than a placeholder.
Siti Muinah
Layla Zulfa
