[_l4jh]

MPC-HC is a superb media player but it is not surprising to see this happen. Interest in maintaining open source Windows applications written in C/Win32/C++/MFC is going to keep dropping as there are not as many people with the skills or motivation to do it. Especially for something as complex as a media player.

Even on the Linux side I have seen a drop in the number of full blown media players being developed, they are mostly front ends to things like mpv and mplayer.

[rossy]

It's definitely bittersweet. I have a soft spot for raw Win32 programming. On Windows, I'd rather see a program written in Win32 than in something like WPF or XAML, so it's sad that there isn't much interest in developing Win32 programs these days. This news about MPC-HC came as a shock, because I thought it was popular enough to stay around. Still, I'd rather see a cross-platform program than one that only works on Windows, and unfortunately, MPC-HC falls into the latter category.

[pmoriarty]

Making front-ends to existing back-ends makes a lot of sense to me. I don't really see the advantage of writing a monolithic media player from scratch as opposed to leveraging existing back-ends.

[satysin]

I knew I should have clarified that I don't think it is a bad thing they are "just" front ends to mpv :)

I agree with you that there isn't much (if any) advantage to doing it all again with a new media player core. I would rather all the expertise is put into mpv to be honest and then let others build front ends that do all the extra bits.

[cbhl]

Plus, legal streaming video/audio has become ubiquitous in the US, and Chromecast/Fire TV/Roku are far cheaper than building a Home Theater PC (or even converting an old video game console or Linux box into one).

[StavrosK]

As an aside, I got a $60 Xiaomi Mi box and love it. It has Netflix, runs Android and is a Chromecast client (you can send videos to it). It's about the same price as a Chromecast for a ton more functionality, I highly recommend it.

I haven't tried the Roku/Fire etc though, so they may be good too.

[pritambaral]

I wonder if its software will still be supported two years from now.

[StavrosK]

Eh, it's Android, presumably it'll still run Kodi, and, hell, if I can't get my $800 phone to be supported for two years, I'm not going to mind my $60 TV watcher.

[izacus]

Will Roku software still be updated two years from now?

[pseudosavant]

My 2 year-old Roku is on the same OS version as my 1 month-old one. Only difference I ever notice is that the new one is a little bit faster / more responsive.