In brief: Do you remember ripping CDs to save your favorite tracks, create a personal library or burn your selection to a new CD? Perhaps the last time was a decade ago. Nevertheless, the ability to do so will soon be returning to Windows 11 with its default Media Player, alongside an improved Camera app and widget experience.
Microsoft continues to add missing features to Windows 11 and will need to do so for quite some time if it wants more Windows 10 users to move to the latest OS. Although the company's latest Windows Insider update doesn't exactly set the world on fire, like making the Start menu more configurable or bringing back basic drag and drop functionality to the Taskbar, improvements to the OS' native apps are still a welcome addition that make it more useful overall.
Alongside new notification badges in widgets and dozens of fixes, the latest Insider build also features a revamped Camera app that can now read QR codes and barcodes, plus the ability to rip CDs with the default Media Player.
Having received CD playback support earlier this year, the new feature in Media Player lets users rip CDs to WMA, FLAC, ALAC, or AAC format, with the latter being the default setting. Moreover, Microsoft says the Media Player will now be used for local video playback, instead of the Movies & TV app.
In terms of other updates in this Insider build, Microsoft appears to be testing several layouts for Search on the Taskbar. The company notes that some devices will get different visual treatment for this functionality, including two open text-entry search box variations and a third icon-only appearance for a minimalist look that adds another click to the search experience.