Windows 11's New Media Player Eats 3.5x the RAM and Paywalls HEVC Playback

Microsoft’s modern Media Player, now the default on Windows 11 in place of Groove Music and the classic Windows Media Player, is far heavier than the app it replaces. Testing by Windows Latest pegs its idle memory use at roughly 377MB versus about 103MB for the legacy player—a 3.5x increase for doing nothing—while local video files take about 50% longer to open, with startup climbing from roughly two seconds to three.

The bigger friction is around codecs. HEVC (H.265) playback now requires the paid HEVC Video Extensions app from the Microsoft Store, and Windows 11 version 24H2 strips out the built-in AC-3 (Dolby Digital) codec entirely, leaving the new player unable to handle AC-3 audio tracks natively. The classic player remains available as an optional component, but Microsoft is steering most users toward the new default.

The takeaway for users is straightforward: a heavier, slower default that gates common formats behind paid add-ons. Third-party players like VLC sidestep the problem by bundling their own codecs, avoiding Microsoft’s paywalled extensions altogether.