It appears that the recent coverage of audio CD sales growing for the first time since 2004 hasn’t gone unnoticed by Microsoft, as the company has jumped at the chance to add CD playback to the Windows 11 version of its longstanding media app, Media Player. Wait a second, how did Microsoft manage to forget adding such basic functionality to its software in the first place? Who knows, but users who want to listen to music the old-fashioned way via Media Player can find the updated version in Windows 11’s Insider Preview Build 22579, which was made available on Friday.
“We have rolled out an update for Media Player (Version 11.2202.42.0) that brings support for CD playback,” Microsoft wrote as part of its extensive list of features added to Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22579. “We’ve also made improvements to better adapt to theme changes and to the media content drag and drop experience.”
Some of the other features that Windows Insiders will find in the latest test build of the OS include the ability to exclude removable USB drives from BitLocker, preventing accidental encryption of storage built into video cameras and other specialized devices, as well as the revolutionary ability to name folders of apps in the Start menu.
Windows 11 is still very much a work in progress. Do not update if you think Microsoft would be decent enough to retain basic, popular features like the option of never combining taskbar buttons.
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22579 (Microsoft)
TL;DR
The Bug Bash has begun! Help us continue to shape Windows by participating in our Bug Bash from March 16th to March 22nd. Explore new features, apps, and experiences that we have released in these latest builds and share feedback! You can check the Quests section of the Feedback Hub to get ideas of what to try out. Participating Insiders on this build will receive a Bug Bash badge in the Feedback Hub.
We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here!
This build introduces a new policy for IT administrators to exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption.
We are also introducing a good set of changes and improvements including the ability to name your folders on Start, site suggestions in the Get Started app that you can pin to your taskbar, and more!
We have some updates for the Media Player and Your Phone apps – details below.
Join us for the March Windows Insider Webcast! Tune in at 10am PDT/5pm UTC on March 22nd as we host guests from the team responsible for the new focus experiences introduced in Build 22557. We’ll also talk about the current Bug Bash, including Quests, recent builds, and more!