Microsoft pushed Media Player version 11.2605.14.0 to Windows 11 Insiders on June 12, 2026, alongside a fresh round of Insider Preview builds. The update arrives with a dedicated set of release notes—a rarity for Media Player—signaling that Microsoft is paying closer attention to its modern audio and video app. But early hands-on reports temper the enthusiasm: the app’s performance still lags behind the ancient, yet beloved, Windows Media Player 12.

What’s New in Media Player 11.2605.14.0

The version bump to 11.2605.14.0 brings a handful of targeted fixes that Insiders have been requesting for months. While Microsoft’s release notes for this specific update are sparse, they point to core improvements in media codec handling and app stability.

  • HEVC Playback Improvements: The standout change addresses hiccups with high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) files. Users who rely on the Microsoft Store’s paid or OEM-provided HEVC Video Extensions should see fewer sudden stops during playback, especially for 4K and 10-bit content. The update also fixes a bug where seeking within an HEVC video would sometimes crash the app on systems with integrated graphics.
  • Library Scanning Reliability: Media Player’s background indexing of music and video libraries has been tweaked to avoid freezing when encountering corrupted media files. Previously, a single damaged MP3 could stall the entire scan, leaving the player in a perpetual loading state.
  • Accessibility Tweaks: Narrator can now read out the current playback position and total track length more consistently—a small but welcome change for visually impaired users.
  • Miscellaneous Crash Fixes: The update resolves a rare crash when casting to DLNA devices and improves the reliability of the “Play to” feature with certain smart TVs.

These fixes are being seeded via the Microsoft Store to Insiders enrolled in the Dev and Beta channels, as a part of the broader Windows 11 Insider Preview build that went live on June 12. If you’re on that build, you can manually check for updates in the Store or wait for the automatic rollout.

HEVC Codec: The Elephant in the Room

HEVC (H.265) support has been a pain point in Windows 11 since launch. Unlike the legacy Windows Media Player, which could rely on system-wide codec packs, the modern Media Player depends on Microsoft’s own HEVC Video Extensions—a paid add-on unless bundled by your PC manufacturer. This has led to confusion and frustration, as many users find their 4K videos from smartphones or action cameras won’t play out of the box.

With version 11.2605.14.0, Microsoft appears to be tightening the integration between the player and the HEVC extension. The app now gracefully prompts users to install the codec when an unsupported file is opened, rather than displaying a cryptic error. Additionally, hardware acceleration is better utilized: systems with Intel 11th-gen or newer, AMD Ryzen 6000 series, or NVIDIA GTX 10-series and newer GPUs should see reduced CPU usage during HEVC playback. Still, the requirement to install a separate extension feels archaic compared to built-in support in competitors like VLC or even the Movies & TV app on Windows 10.

Performance Showdown: Modern Media Player vs. Legacy Windows Media Player

Despite the bug zapping, the most frequent complaint echoing through Insider forums remains unchanged: speed. Windows Media Player 12, first introduced with Windows 7, still outperforms its modern counterpart in several key areas.

Here’s what early testers are reporting:

  • Launch Time: On a cold start, Windows Media Player 12 opens almost instantly—often under one second—even on aging hardware with spinning hard drives. Media Player 11.2605.14.0, meanwhile, takes between two and five seconds to show its main window, with the delay growing if the music library is large.
  • Library Browsing: Scrolling through a folder with 10,000+ MP3 files is butter-smooth in the legacy player, but introduces micro-stutters and delayed album art rendering in the new app. The older player appears more efficient at handling metadata, possibly because it uses older, tried-and-tested APIs like DirectShow rather than the UWP media pipeline.
  • Resource Footprint: Task Manager comparisons show that playing a simple 1080p H.264 video consumes around 120 MB of RAM in the legacy player, while the modern app often idles at 200 MB and spikes to 300 MB under playback, even after the latest updates. CPU usage is also marginally higher.
  • Drag-and-Drop Responsiveness: Dragging a video file onto the modern player’s window incurs a noticeable pause before playback begins, whereas the legacy player starts playing mid-drop, a behavior hardwired into its lightweight architecture.

These performance gaps might seem small in isolation, but they add up to a feeling of sluggishness that power users find grating. One Insider on the community forums put it bluntly: “I want to like the new Media Player—it’s prettier and supports newer formats natively. But every time I double-click a song and have to wait for the app to catch up, I end up right back in WMP.”

The Modern Player’s Strengths

To be fair, the new Media Player isn’t without advantages. It supports modern features that the legacy player never will:

  • Casting and Sync: Built-in Chromecast and DLNA casting are more seamless, with better device discovery.
  • Dark Mode and Fluent Design: It integrates beautifully with Windows 11’s visual language, complete with acrylic blur and rounded corners.
  • Streaming Service Integration: While still limited, the “Your media” section can pull in content from local Plex servers and other DLNA sources.
  • Active Development: Unlike the frozen-in-amber Windows Media Player 12, the modern app receives regular updates, meaning performance could eventually improve.

How to Get the Update

Media Player 11.2605.14.0 is currently exclusive to the Windows Insider Program. If you’re on a supported Insider build (Dev or Beta channel) from June 12, 2026 or later, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Microsoft Store app.
  2. Click on Library in the bottom left.
  3. Hit “Get updates” to pull down the latest version of all apps, including Media Player.

Alternatively, you can manually check the Media Player’s about page (Settings > About) to confirm you’re on 11.2605.14.0. Microsoft has not announced a release date for the stable channel, but if history is a guide, the update could reach all Windows 11 users within a few weeks after Insider validation.

Known Issues and Remaining Bugs

No preview update is perfect, and 11.2605.14.0 has its share of lingering problems:

  • Album Art Gone Missing: Some testers note that album art fails to display for FLAC files, despite being embedded. This appears to be a regression from the previous build.
  • Inconsistent Equalizer: The app’s built-in graphic equalizer sometimes resets to flat when switching between tracks, frustrating audiophiles who customize their sound.
  • Subtitles Out of Sync: When casting with subtitles enabled, the text can drift out of sync by up to a second on certain TV models.
  • Memory Leak After Long Playback: A small but reproducible leak makes the player balloon past 500 MB of RAM after four to five hours of continuous audio playback, eventually requiring a restart.

Microsoft has acknowledged some of these on the Feedback Hub and promises further patches in upcoming Insider flights.

Community Pulse

Across Reddit, Twitter, and Windows-centric forums, the reception is mixed. Enthusiasts who regularly handle high-bitrate HEVC content appreciate the smoother playback. Casual users, however, often can’t tell the difference between this and the last update. The speed gap with legacy Windows Media Player remains the loudest critique—one that Microsoft will need to address if it hopes to retire the old stalwart for good.

A thread on the Windows 11 subreddit titled “Is it just me or is Media Player still slow?” garnered over 200 upvotes within hours of the build drop. Top comments echoed the desire for a legacy-style performance mode that strips away the Fluent Design fluff and focuses purely on speed.

The Road Ahead

Microsoft’s renewed emphasis on Media Player release notes suggests a commitment to iteration. The codec fixes in 11.2605.14.0 are a step in the right direction, but the performance delta with Windows Media Player 12 remains the elephant in the room. Until the modern app can compete on raw speed—especially under heavy libraries—many long-time Windows users will keep a shortcut to their trusty legacy player.

For now, Insiders have a shiny new Media Player with fewer crashes and better HEVC muscle. But if you value instant responsiveness above all else, you might want to stick with the classic. Microsoft seems to be listening; the question is whether its engineering team can bridge a performance gap that is, at its core, a consequence of modern versus legacy design philosophies.