Win11's media player just got an update, but the 17-year-old version still opens instantly and uses 3x less memory. Last week (June 12), Microsoft pushed a new version of Media Player (11.2605.14.0) to Insider channels, marking its biggest update in recent years. Custom subtitles, mandatory naming for playlists, crash fixes, indexing progress prompts... It all looks quite promising. But

💡 What You Will Learn

Win11's media player just got an update, but the 17-year-old version still opens instantly and uses 3x less memory. Last week (June 12), Microsoft pushed a new version of Media Player (11.2605.14.0) t

📜 Table of Contents

• 01. What’s New? Let’s Break Down the Real Stuff
• 02. But When It Comes to Speed, the 17-Year-Old Version Crushes It
• 03. Paying Extra for Decoders? That’s Unacceptable
• 04. Good News: Microsoft Says Media Player Isn’t Dead
• 05. My Take: WinUI Rewrite Could Be the Way Out, but Decoders Need Fixing
• 06. Over to You

Win11 Media Player Just Got an Update, but the 17-Year-Old Version Still Opens Instantly with 3x Less Memory

Microsoft pushed a new version of Media Player (11.2605.14.0) to Insider channels last week (June 12), marking the biggest update in recent years. Custom subtitles, mandatory playlist naming, crash fixes, indexing progress indicators… It all looks promising.

But there’s an awkward truth that can’t be ignored.

01. What’s New? Let’s Break Down the Real Stuff

Let’s start with what actually matters in this update.

Custom subtitles. Previously, subtitles could only be toggled on or off, with no style adjustments. Now, subtitle styles are synced with system settings—change font size, color, or background, and the player updates automatically. There’s also a quick-access entry in the app, so you don’t have to dig through settings.

Indexing progress indicator. After a fresh system install or copying a ton of videos, the player scans in the background without telling you anything. Now, the playback queue finally shows a "Indexing" progress bar. Feedback removes the anxiety.

Improved playback compatibility. You’d often run into cases where a file format is valid, but the player doesn’t recognize it and throws a cryptic error. Microsoft optimized format recognition logic to reduce these false positives.

Playback queue editing no longer crashes. Crashes when switching between sessions (e.g., from an album to a playlist) are fixed. Playlists now require a name before saving, preventing blank entries.

Other fixes include clearer decoder missing prompts and minor UI alignment issues.

02. But When It Comes to Speed, the 17-Year-Old Version Crushes It

All the above improvements are great. But what happens when you double-click a video file?

Windows Latest ran a test:

• New Media Player: Double-click a video, wait a few seconds to open
• VLC: Opens instantly
• 17-year-old Windows Media Player (Windows 7 era, shipped in 2009): Also opens instantly

Memory usage is even more absurd. The new version consumes 377MB of RAM at idle, while the old version only uses 103.4MB. That’s 3.6x more.

And the old Media Player actually looks more distinctive. Here’s the irony—a 2009 piece of software feels "newer and faster" than a 2026 one.

03. Paying Extra for Decoders? That’s Unacceptable

The deeper issue is decoders.

You shoot an H.265 video (HEVC format) on an iPhone, transfer it to a Win11 laptop, and the new Media Player can’t play it. The solution? Head to the Microsoft Store and spend $0.99 on HEVC Video Extensions.

Ironically, the old Windows Media Player can play these files—even though HEVC didn’t exist when it was released. VLC plays everything for free, no extra installs needed.

Yes, Microsoft has to pay royalties to HEVC patent holders (Samsung, Apple, etc.). But making a user who just bought a Windows laptop pay extra to play videos from their own phone? That’s not a great experience.

04. Good News: Microsoft Says Media Player Isn’t Dead

This update sends an important signal.

Microsoft has, for the first time, set up dedicated changelog pages in the Windows Insider documentation for seven built-in apps: Calculator, Camera, Clock, Media Player, Paint, Photos, and Voice Recorder. Windows Latest confirmed with Microsoft that Media Player development never stopped—bug fixes have been rolling out consistently, just feature updates have been sparse.

The introduction of separate changelogs suggests the update frequency might increase going forward.

05. My Take: WinUI Rewrite Could Be the Way Out, but Decoders Need Fixing

Microsoft is now pushing WinUI as the native UI framework for Windows 11, and has promised future system apps will be built with native solutions. If Media Player gets a WinUI rewrite, startup latency and memory usage could genuinely improve.

But while memory can be optimized, the decoder issue is a matter of attitude. $0.99 isn’t expensive, but the negative sentiment from users who can’t play phone videos with a built-in player is something money can’t buy back.

VLC and MPV are open-source, free, lightweight, and support every format out of the box. Users have already voted with their feet.

06. Over to You

Do you use VLC on your PC, or stick with the built-in player out of convenience? If Microsoft announced a WinUI rewrite for Media Player, do you think it could ever catch up to VLC?