• Windows 11 Media Player app is now arriving on Windows 10.
  • This is the same app but without some cosmetics only available on Windows 11.
  • The Media Player app is available through the Release Preview Channel.

Microsoft has made available the new Media Player app for Windows 10. The app was initially only available for Windows 11, but now, the company is slowly rolling it out to Windows 10 users to replace the original Groove Music app.

The Media Player app is currently available through the Release Preview Channel, and it’s the same application design using WinUI 3.0, Fluent Design system, and support for the light and dark color modes, but without the cosmetics available on Windows 11 , such as mica material and rounded corners.

The application offers support for both audio and video playback. As part of the features, it’s pretty basic. You can create your playlists, and there’s support for album art and artist information. Also, the app will automatically scan and add all your folders containing music and videos stored locally on your device.

If you have been using Groove Music, the new app has a similar layout with navigation on the left and content on the right, and play controls at the bottom with an option to enable mini-player mode.

Although Windows 10 is also getting the Windows 11 Media Player app, the classic Windows Media Player will continue to be available through the Windows Tools settings.

The new Media Player app is rolling out slowly. If you are running the latest preview of Windows 10, you can download the app by going to the Microsoft Store and checking for updates on the Library page.

On Windows 11, starting on version 22H2 , the network printing service has changed from “RPC over Named Pipes” to “RPC over TCP.” According to Microsoft, the new change should help improve the security of printers as it enforces more recent and more secure communication methods.

The only caveat is that the communication change may affect how the system connects to printers for the different operations. As a result, the company also provides various methods to customize print service communication settings, including the Group Policy Editor or the Registry Editor to switch to “RPC over Named Pipes” for printing communication and spooler server.

It’s important to note that this change should not affect home printers connected directly to the computer. On the other hand, issues could arise for organizations using print servers. For this reason, Microsoft has also published documentation to help administrators revert to the previous settings.

If you must change the settings back to “RPC over Named Pipes” using the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 , use these instructions:

  • To switch from “RPC over Named Pipes” to “RPC over TCP” through Group Policy, enable and select the “RPC over Named Pipes” option for the “Configure RPC connection settings” policy on Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers .
  • To enable listening for incoming connections on “RPC over Named Pipes,” enable and change “Protocols to allow for incoming RPC connections” to “RPC over named pipes and TCP.”
  • To use a specific port for RPC over TCP communication, enable and specify the port in the “Configure RPC over TCP port” policy.
  • To enforce Kerberos authentication, enable and set the “Configure RPC listener settings” policy to allow Kerberos.

If you want to change the settings through the Registry, you can use these instructions:

  • To switch the network print settings through the Registry, open Command Prompt (admin) and run this command: reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC” /v RpcUseNamedPipeProtocol /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
  • To enable listening for incoming connections, open Command Prompt (admin) and run this command: reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC” /v RpcProtocols /t REG_DWORD /d 0x7 /f
  • To use a specific port through the Registry, open Command Prompt (admin) and run this command: reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC” /v RpcTcpPort /t REG_DWORD /d /f
  • To enforce Kerberos authentication, open Command Prompt (admin) and run this command: reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC” /v ForceKerberosForRpc /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

You can check the Microsoft documentation for additional information. If you are dealing with printer problems, you can troubleshoot and fix virtually any problem with these instructions .