14 DAY TRIAL // As we reported a few weeks back, Windows 10 Technical Preview 9860 comes with some subtle changes to Windows Media Player, that could help improve the overall experience with an application that hasn’t received updates in a while, but which appears to be greatly enhanced in the next OS version developed by Microsoft.
Windows Media Player will support MKV files from the get-go, and in a short tweet posted a couple of days ago, Gabriel Aul, Microsoftie in charge of keeping us up to date with everything related to Windows 10, this is indeed true and the company is now working to fix any potential bugs before the final launch of the new OS.
At this point, the MKV file support is still glitchy in Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9860, as errors are displayed whenever you open such a file, but that’s going to change before the debut of the stable OS.
Whenever you attempt to open an MKV file in the current testing build, the OS tells you that it cannot handle the format, but if you choose to ignore the error, the playback process starts and runs smoothly.
HEVC support also included
In addition to MKV compatibility offered by default, Windows 10 would also include HEVC support, Gabriel Aul revealed, again with lots of improvements to be added in the upcoming builds.
HEVC, which stands for High Efficiency Video Coding, is, just like its name suggests, a video compression standard that combines excellent file compression rates and high image quality. The main advantage of using HEVC, however, remains the enhanced compression, so videos are capable of providing at least the same video quality, but without eating up more space on your local drives.
Aul explains that HEVC support is already integrated in Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9860; needless to say, some bugs could still be found, but everything should be fixed by spring 2015.
Improved Windows Media Player
Even though Microsoft hasn’t talked about it until now, Windows Media Player is one of the key Windows applications that could be significantly improved in Windows 10.
At this point, it appears that a major revamp that would also include a new interface is very unlikely, but the company is already working under the hood to make the Media Player support a wider array of formats and new technologies that are widely available to users.
There’s no doubt that an improved Media Player version is a must-have for Windows 10, as most Windows users have until now turned to third-party solutions such as VLC in order to play their multimedia files, completely ignoring the built-in media software solution.
@eXDeeNZ Done! HEVC also supported in-box. You're welcome! @neowinfeed missed that one ;-P
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) November 1, 2014