Feature Request CORE-15418 to create a ReactOS Default Media Player using the code from Media Player Classic.

This feature request was discussed some time ago on the forum at length and it came to little conclusion, some wanting to bundle VLC, others wanting to bundle classic media player - an open source tool that has recently received some attention. The importance of a media player was noted but one of the main problems was left out.

The nub of the problem is this:

Windows has a default media player provided as a core part of the system. It is not just a media player, being so tightly integrated into Windows it is used by (some/many?) apps to produce the default sounds and video that emanate from normal program usage.

Note that on Windows, ActiveX/COM allows access to system level components and one of those components that is defined as a system level resource is the windows media player (WMP). COM allows programs to make calls to WMP to allow them to play embedded videos or audio tracks within their applications without having to design their own player and bundle their own codecs. The use of WMP means that a far greater range of codecs will be available and the chances of being able to play a particular type of file are increased. Without such a player these Windows applications will not function as intended.

See the description here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... ject-model

ReactOS is not a straight o/s without any whizzes or dongles, ie. it already has such bundled apps as games and the ReactOS version of paintbrush. So, the concept of bundling apps is already set, ie. it is perfectly OK to have apps bundled with ReactOS and ReactOS will have them when released. It is just a matter of which applications are bundled. I propose we add Media Player Classic as the default media player.

A Windows Media Player type application would be very useful, in fact essential to replace the windows media player that came bundled with Windows, it will need to be a straight drop in replacement for WMP.

Indeed, users expect the basic components of an o/s to be present and although RAPPS allows users to install the components they need, some applications are integrated into the o/s far more than others. I would suggest that it is time to re-open this debate and consider using the open source Media Player Classic as ReactOS own embedded version of WMP and to ensure that active X/COM controls can see Media Player Classic just as WMP is disclosed as the default media player in Windows.

MPC looks like a media player that ReactOS could use. It is written in C++ and is open source and it supported by the devs at doom9. It seems to me that the only thing missing from Media player classic is the Active X control that allows Windows/ReactOS programs access to its functions. With that control in place it might be a perfect drop-in replacement for WMP and would restore that missing sound functionality to programs giving ReactOS added compatibity.

Request raised here in JIRA:

https://jira.reactos.org/browse/CORE-15418

Hope this finds you all well this Christmas and that you will consider this feature request for later inclusion.

Dean Beedell (dizt3mp3r)