A new Media Player is coming to Windows 10, which will replace Groove Music! In the Release Preview channel of the Windows Insider program, Microsoft has quietly released an updated version of Groove Music that replaces the old music player with a brand new app called “Windows Media Player”.
The Windows 11 Media Player is slowly rolling out to Windows 10 Insiders who have subscribed to the Release Preview Channel. It is reminiscent of the original Windows Media Player, but it uses WinUI 3.0 and Microsoft’s Fluent Design system. Although Windows 10 has no rounded corners, this new Media Player will still remind you of the design of Windows 11.
The new Media Player was first shown off during a Windows Insider Program stream in 2021 and was later released for Windows 11 users. Microsoft was silent on the release of Windows 10 until today’s update in the Release Preview Channel finally brought the app to the legacy operating system.
Sure, there are too many free media players available for Windows, but Microsoft isn’t exactly late to the game. While we have better alternatives like VLC and MPV (our personal favorite), the new Windows Media Player is still a pretty good option for new users.
How to get the new Windows Media Player on Windows 10
You can find the new app as an update in the Microsoft Store. To get the player, go to Microsoft Store > Library and check for updates. An update automatically replaces the existing Groove Music app and migrates your playlists to the new app.
Available in both dark and light modes, this new media player also respects Windows 10’s accent color. By default, it uses a color scheme of black and orange, or white and orange.
Media Player’s design is quite simple and it works very well. Unlike Groove Music, Media Player can play both audio and video files. Like the Movies & TV app, there’s HDR support here too, so if you’ve got new modern movies in this particular file format, you can use the new player to play the media.
The current version of Windows Media Player is 11.2209.30.0 and Windows 10 Build 19042 is specified as the minimum version. If you can’t wait for the update to arrive on your system, you can download the offline package of the app and run the .msix bundle.
