Re: WMC removal?
Windows Media Player is still there, and should actually be a little better.
For example, it will include FLAC and MKV support out of the box now, so no (or at least reduced) need for 3rd party codecs.
I'm hoping it will rip to FLAC, and not just play!
I suspect MS didn't really want to add these, as they favour their own WMA and WMV (crap) formats, but there is a lot of contents out there that is in MKV format, and a lot of codec packs of dubious credibility ("nice bit of malware on the side sir?").
My guess is MS are just trying to reduce support calls, "Why won't these files play?", "Malware? The only thing I installed recently was the 'Super Duper Best Ever codec pack', which I found on Bing." etc.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
