Last night Microsoft released a preview of the new media apps coming to Windows 10. The new Music and Video app (note the dropping of the Xbox tag) are available in the beta Windows Store on the latest Windows 10 build.

The preview version of the music app has an updated UI but other than the slight cosmetic changes the apps are essentially the same but there are a lot more changes to come including:

Browse and buy music in the Windows Store Beta– until then you can still buy music in the existing Music App

Right-click context menus

Better back button for easier app navigation

Dark color theme

Compact mode

Settings improvements

Improved support for accessibility

There are some issues with the app including music pass errors and no playback controls on hover but standard playback, playlist creation and streaming all seem to work ok. You can find the app in the beta version of the beta Windows Store.

The video app also has an updated UI but again no other major changes but there are new features coming including Windows Store integration for purchasing content, offline playback for downloaded movies, better device managed and improved search results. You can find the preview app in the beta Windows Store.

The current apps will continue to work so you will need to use these for purchasing content. I expect by the time we get to the final release of Windows 10 the old apps will be gone and these new apps do look like good platforms for the future. There are no DLNA or Play To features in the app that I could find.

Via the Windows Blog

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