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Windows 10 Update Removes Windows Media Player (betanews.com)
Recently made available Windows 10 update KB4046355 for the Fall Creators Update disables Windows Media Player from the operating system. BetaNews reports: While it could be argued that Windows Media Player is no longer an essential addition to Windows -- there are plenty of quality third-party alternatives, such as VLC Media Player, not to mention the Films & TV app in Windows 10 itself -- many users still rely on it. The feature's removal came to light when users installed KB4046355 on devices running Windows 10 version 1709 -- the Fall Creators Update. This update, referred to as FeatureOnDemandMediaPlayer, removes Windows Media Player from the OS, although it doesn't kill access to it entirely. If you want the media player back you can install it via the Add a Feature setting. Open Settings, go to Apps > Apps & Features, and click on Manage optional features.
Explain to me WHY this is a useful program?
I am so sick of Microsoft and this Windows 10 crap. Worse are the fanboys that defend it.
...While it could be argued that Windows Media Player is no longer an essential addition to Windows...
It could also be argued that the Windows 10 data harvesting is not an essential addition to Windows. Yet there it remains....
.
Makes one wonder what the real reason is for removing Media Player.
They removed THING
M$ BAD! M$ BAD!
~~~in an alternate reality~~~
-Windows 10 Update Adds Windows Media Player-
OMG BLOAT!
M$ BAD! M$ BAD!
Granted there are much better out there but I have family who have stuck with Windows Media Player since Windows 7 because it's all they know and don't want to learn more at their age. I've already heard grumblings of why Microsoft does changes like this to ruin their experience. This won't go over well.
There must have been a bivvy of old exploits they just got too lazy to think about fixing. No other reason makes any sense.
It's a shell linking audio/video codecs (which still exist) to a simple set of video controls, perhaps with some mostly useless cruft, but it did a decent job.
It definitely wasn't anywhere near the best player - but when you went to a random PC, you could be sure that most common videos would play.
Why would you remove that as a minimal component on PCs? Browsers are OK - but when you're going for a presentation on a random PC, there's all kinds of ways those can crap out in ways that a simple default video player would be fine.
Seems a very dumb thing to remove, if you want PCs to be useful general devices world-wide.
And note - probably less than 2% of your user base is going to go onto the 'Windows Store' to try and get ANYTHING to fix this shortcoming. Attempting to profit from your own manufactured problem is not going to pay off in this case, compared to what it's costing you in terms of basic capability.
Ryan Fenton
it could also be argued that with the Groove media play also included in Windows, it's confusing and a waste of disc space having two media players as part of the base operating system.
In that sense, it makes sense to Microsoft to simplify the operating system and use the media player that's perhaps not as riddled with telemetry. (Seriously, Windows Media Player with all the rights management and ability to call out to internet services is more of a security risk than Groove player.)
Perhaps, MS are simply simplifying windows.
It seems they are making it up as they go along. So much for forewarning. Calc.exe for the chop next.
If we don't use Windows 10, what other OS can we use instead?
We don't want to use Windows 8 or 8.1, because they were pretty awful.
We don't want to use earlier versions of Windows, because support and updates for them are limited or pretty much non-existent.
macOS is perhaps the only viable non-Windows alternative, but it's useless for those of us who don't have Apple hardware. And we don't want to have to buy new, and rather expensive for what you get, hardware just to use macOS.
Linux isn't really an option, especially with so many distros including systemd. I hate to say this, but I've found Windows 10 to boot more reliably for me than the versions of Debian and Ubuntu that use systemd!
Chrome OS is too limited and feeble.
Haiku is a toy.
Solaris isn't really viable, even for powerusers.
Realistically, Windows 10 is the only option for nearly all desktop users who aren't using macOS.
It didn't have to be this way. The various Linux distros had ample time and opportunity to come up with a real competitor to Windows. But instead of doing that they just wasted time with doodoo like systemd, GNOME 3, PulseAudio, NetworkManager, Unity, and Wayland.
We use Windows 10 because it's the only practical option.
Does anyone remember there was a Windows Multi Media Edition? One had to buy a Soundblaster card to get sound out of the box previously and HP keyboards had play/pause/volume controls on the keyboard ...
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
(see title)
I like WMP better than Groove, because it doesn't have the obnoxious marketing thing going, though I've switched mostly to musicbee.
Though as bad as Groove is, it's better than the pinnacle of incompetent design that is iTunes.
These feature removals mostly seem troublesome at a locked down PC environment at school or work where you can't install anything. So while not disastrous, it is certainly annoying when you can't do some trivial thing on a computer without admin rights on it.
Yes, there's a lot of "We hate [thing X MSFT did] because we hate microsoft!" out there. It's childish but common.
The bottom line is they can choose what they have in the default install, and they'll do that for reasons that don't have a whole lot to do with outrage articles from the technical press and on slashdot or reddit. Sure, they want to support features the community likes, but they also have things that are old projects nobody in the company really owns anymore that don't drive revenue, for example.
And they will also sometimes replace functionality. Maybe they have a replacement player in the winds that will somehow support AR/VR as well and they're focusing on that.
There are lots of reasons they might do this. Best to determine the reasons before piling on the outrage.
Real lawyers write in C++
When Microsoft tricked Windows 7 and Windows 8 users into installing Windows 10, Microsoft removed Windows Media Center, also: Microsoft kills off Windows Media Center.
More about Microsoft's abusive management: Microsoft's history is filled with abuse.
Given that you can add Windows Media Player back in, then title of this story is incorrect.
WMP has not been removed, it's been made a non-default application ("Feature on Demand"). You can still add it back in fairly easily.
Maybe Microsoft is planning on completely removing it in the long term, but they haven't removed it yet.
It's still annoying. Users still use WMP and this is likely to cause a lot of confusion.
Either. The problem was the permanent inclusion of the browser in the explorer shell such that people would have to rely on it because explorer would default to Internet explorer for any URLs placed in the URI bar rather than firing up a third party browser. And since it was already loaded as part of the shell it would seem faster to users than loading a third party browser.
People often forget that, as well as the Mozilla/Firefox 'preloader' that would keep the browser resources in-memory so the first time you ran it it seemed as fast as Internet Explorer loading.
Ahh the days of Win9x and the Microsoft Monopoly trials.
VLC....but I'm sure your typical "mom & pop" that use a computer how it comes out of the box might, but if they are on 10, did it even come with WMP?
They didn't remove the installer, they didn't do anything during installation.
They removed a feature from OSes that were already installed.
WTF were you going on about now?
How do you justify MS removing an application from an already installed Windows system? They shouldn't have to add it back if it was already there to begin with!
So arbitrarily removing a decades old program from existing installations might cause some confusion?
... it wasn't getting much love and they're obviously pushing Grove Music instead.
Biggest loss was lack of native DVD playback in W10 from the start. Media Player starting to look outdated.
Things I won't miss:
- MediaPlayer trying to index my (large) music library when accidentally started to play one track...
- Using MediaPlayer when ripping (in dbPowerAmp). Rip CD. Play it with MediaPlayer, which then thinks it's a good idea to stop player what I've just deliberately selected to autoplay the next music CD inserted.
- Using MediaPlayer when travelling. Play DVD. Hibernate. Resume. MediaPlayer remembers what I was playing but not where it was. How hard can that be.
Fill in the blank.
"While it could be argued that ________ is no longer an essential addition to Windows -- there are plenty of quality third-party alternatives . . . "
Get rid of Notepad, Calculator, Wordpad and anything else remotely useful.
When does this stop?
How long until MS offers their "Premium Windows Product"?
While Satya Nadella is busy promoting his great leadership, is he doing everything possible to kill off the old flagship product?
There's nothing wrong with Windows 8, as long as you turn it into Windows 7.
sig: sauer
As useless as media player is, does this mean no one will be able to access files on their android devices over USB anymore due to no MTP support? Because Windows 7 can't do it on versions lacking the media pack...
WMP has not been removed, it's been made a non-default application
That would be the case in a fresh install, but not when you update to this build.
And this is why you never ever rely on any program made by Microsoft because they will either abandon it or remove it from you at some point. Always use open source software for everything, because you can quarantie it won't be taken away and even if it is abandoned you can still download the last version of it.
While I agree with the +4 moderation, I feel insightful to be more accurate than "Funny"
...win 10 rapes everybody annually each and every year.
Dear Microsoft,
Some of us set up Win 10 machines for family members and relatives. We want a "set and forget" system. It is bad enough dealing with updates, but we don't need you yanking the tablecloth every now and then while we are eating dinner. Applications should not be yanked out like that. This is the second time I know of that you have done something like this.
CCCP = win..and if you think I am talking about Russia, think again.
There's nothing wrong with Windows 8, as long as you turn it into Windows 7.
You can also use classic shell on windows 10. There's nothing wrong with Windows 10, as long as you turn it into Windows 7... except the OS spying on us and able to turn on and off any software at will without users stopping it... er, never mind.
It's much easier to overcome the negatives of Windows 8 than it is to overcome the negative of Windows 10.
Windows 8:
1) Install Classic Shell
2) Done
Windows 10:
1) Turn off every privacy invading hole that Microsoft will allow you to
2) Disable automatic updates
3) Install Spybot Anti-Beacon and immunise
4) Install O&O ShutUp10 and immunise
5) Add pages of Microsoft spyware domains to your hosts file
6) Firewall pages of Microsoft spyware domains
7) Remove Edge, Cortono, X-Box, One Drive and every other spyware resource wasters that nobody wants
8) Hope that Microsoft doesn't silently reenable anything through hidden backdoors
As I said, many were tricked into "upgrading" to Windows 10. One story: Microsoft is using 'malware tactics' to trick people into upgrading to Windows 10
It's much much better, especially on Mac/Linux when it uses youtube-dl to support all these by default: https://rg3.github.io/youtube-.... Need a music player? Use Clementine.
If we don't use Windows 10, what other OS can we use instead? {...} Linux isn't really an option, especially with so many distros including systemd. I hate to say this, but I've found Windows 10 to boot more reliably for me than the versions of Debian and Ubuntu that use systemd! {...} We use Windows 10 because it's the only practical option.
On the other hand, *I* find Linux to be less of a nightmare whenever I upgrade storage (replace HDD with SSD, replace old busted optical bay with a bay holding an extra SSD, rebalance BTRFS on the fly to RAID1 across the 2 SSDs, etc.), compared to Windows 10 (Whenever you move windows partitions around. Or switch between BIOS and UEFI modes. Or replace DOS-partition scheme with GPT : Windows becomes unbootable and you must yet again get the recovery disk. Or you must do the above action using specially crafted tools by the manufacturer which often are... Linux bootdisks, actually).
So as the saying goes, "Your Mileage Might Vary".
In my case, I use openSUSE's Tumbleweed Linux disto because it's a very practical option for me.
Other users might have even other experiences.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
The choice is "an OS that runs the software I have to use" and "an OS that doesn't run the software I have to use."
And in some cases, mainly in "big data" analysis fields, even moreso in bioinformatics, the "OS that runs the software I have to use" tend to be flavors of Unix - so're basically limited to macOS X or Linux.
(With only very recently Windows starting to be able to run these same software, thanks to WSL).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
apple really needs an $1000-$1500 desktop / gamer system.
$1,300 for a system with weak video card with 2GB video ram and 8GB system with an 5400 rpm HDD does not fit that bill.
I use Classic Shell on Windows 7. It's better than the standard menu.
Because they are idiots.
Secondly.. as if you wouldn't be using WinAmp.
Agreed. There is also Audacious Media Player if you miss Winamp.
http://audacious-media-player....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
The Silicondust tuners can ONLY play DRM content with Windows Media Center.
They (Silicondust) is about to be VERY unhappy... Not to mention those who bought the devices
For the hackintosh route you could run a VMware hypervisor with GPU pass through enabled.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
They include programs by default? They are abusing their monopoly and forcing out competition!
They don't include programs by default? They are incompetent and destroying the OS!
I kept Windows around for the minilyrics plugin, to edit synchronized lyrics. Don't know of anything else on Linux that works. Kid3 is *supposed* to, but never got it to go work.
Thanks, MS!
If we don't use Windows 10, what other OS can we use instead?
What's wrong with Win10 + linux subsystem? I've tended to find Windows 10 a pretty decent OS - which I'll readily admit was a huge surprise. It boots fast, is stable and with WSL I can run a bash shell while at the same time having Adobe, MS and OpenSource software all accessible. Admittedly it is not as good as macOS but I can run it on a desktop which is ~40% cheaper, takes expansion cards and 3-4 years more up to date than a Mac Pro. The same holds for laptops although the CPU+GPU age difference is only ~1 year there.
The Silicondust tuners can ONLY play DRM content with Windows Media Center.
They (Silicondust) is about to be VERY unhappy... Not to mention those who bought the devices
From what I'm seeing, Silicondust (which I've never heard of before) appears to make set top boxes. If you're watching the content off of those on a Windows PC, surely you're in the minority of a minority.
IP based tuner boxes for both OTA and cable use... Not *exactly* a STB. The boxes have NO composite, RF or HDMI interfaces.
I plan to use this as my next desktop after Win7 x64, since it seems MS is not propagating the Win10 security patches to 7 and 8. I'm running it in a VM and so far it seems very promising. Snappy, small memory requirements and the added bonuses of almost no telemetry, no spyware and no Cortana.
The main reason I decided to migrate is that Win7 is no more viable for me. I find that the shift to monthly security updates have worsened the update situation. My current Windows 7 x64 just refuses to install the September update (KB4038777) and there is no cure for it, as currently there is no definitive solution but an in-place reinstall (been searching for a week now trying all procedures found in MS and other forums). When the updates were isolated patches one could troubleshoot the offending one, but now with the monthly updates it's an all-or-nothing deal - if it doesn't want to play along you're doomed. Given the number of people having the issue (just search error code 80073701 kb4038777 and see) I predict that Win7 will slowly but inevitably fade away due to the inability to patch it properly.
Granted there are much better out there but I have family who have stuck with Windows Media Player since Windows 7 because it's all they know and don't want to learn more at their age. I've already heard grumblings of why Microsoft does changes like this to ruin their experience. This won't go over well.
It's not merely habit. It's also that the successors/substitutes that come in Windows 10 lack some important features that WMP had.
Since WMP was a 'one-size-fits-all' application in Windows 7 and prior, one could, aside from songs, even organize music videos into playlist. Imagine that you collected a whole bunch of them from YouTube, or even bought them from somewhere. In WMP, you could organize them into a playlist just like you could w/ just audio music, and you'd be fine: you wouldn't have to have an audio only copy of your music video to have it in a playlist.
In Groove - Microsoft's music player - audio is all you're allowed to do. If one wants to watch a music video, one has to use the Movie app. But guess what: one can't create playlists in movies, since that's obviously not how one watches movies. And in Groove, where one can create playlists, one can't include music videos in them.
On my part, I got an iPod Nano - just days before Apple discontinued the product, and loaded up what I could. I need to process my collection to make it into a format that the iPod can use. While I play it in the car - that's where the playlists are really needed - I can also watch music videos on them when I'm not driving.
-- satya nadella
One of these fantastic updates has broken my Films & TV app on my Win10 ThinkPad. I’ve removed the app and reinstalled it from the Win Store with limited success. Now it crashes and burns after 5-7 seconds instead of 1-2, though still unusable. No problem I have thought since I still got the good old WMP. Oh wait
precisely.
and more simply, how do you justify MS removing anything from MY computer?
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Of course none of us use it. Of course we all know about MPC and VLC. But the old lady next door, and lots of other basic users (that I help) who just want to email their grandchildren and watch cat videos, will be confused and perhaps afraid that they broke something or they have a virus. Why remove it stealthily when you could have an excuse for MORE ads about the "new and improved" replacements (yes I know they aren't improved, that's why I put quotes around the obvious marketing line). Why treat your customers badly?
That's a good start. Now if only the next update would remove win10 completely.
After the update I have to reinstall it just to be able to use it again. They should have checked if the player is in use, and if, keep it, if not, dump it.
Never use the player, but I still use a terrific Windows Media Center HP PC---I have cable routed into the back and one click brings me cable TV I can record. Works fine except if I program the wrong time! They killed that one, too.
They want people to use the store so a future windows will be gutted and free or monthly small fee and you buy what you need from the Windows store.
Hello,
Here are a couple of methods for scripting re-installation of Windows Media Player after applying KB4046355.
via Command Prompt: dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:WindowsMediaPlayer
via PowerShell: enable-windowsoptionalfeature -online -featureName WindowsMediaPlayer
Hopefully that will be of use to people who still need to use (or prefer) Windows Media Player.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Dexter is a good dog.
WHO are they to decide what WE want?!
And nothing of value was lost.
I wish I had a lawn.