Thanks. That is exactly what I did to "trick" Windows 8 to "play to" my uncertified device.

Somehow, I rather doubt that Microsoft will drop the "Microsoft-certified" requirement in Windows 8.1. They seem to think it's a good idea.

More background about their reasons, plus a pointer to the registry tweak to get around the restriction, is here:
http://gcoupe.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/ ... ming-them/

Update - one thing I learned regarding the Windows 8 "play to" function is that the device must be Windows certified in order for it to appear on the device charm. This really stinks because the device I want to "play to" is my Sony A/V amplifier which is discontinued by Sony which means that that it will never be Windows certified. I have found a way around it by changing the registry in Windows. In my opinion Windows should have thought this through before they released Windows 8 and should have gave the end user the option to use devices that are not Windows certified like they did in Windows 7. I am baffled as to why my Sony A/V amplifier works in the desktop mode in Windows 8, but not in Metro mode. Hopefully this will be addressed in Windows 8.1.

You're right, it's how it must be implemented, because it's fully managed by system :-/.

It also exists in MM8.

But I think that the method of using it is not exactly intuitive. However, to be fair, this may be the way that Windows 8 Device sharing works, because I see the same thing in both MM8 and in the Xbox Music App.

What you need to do is first to start an album or track playing. Then, and only then, you can go to the Devices Charm, and choose your "Play to" device. From that point on, the album or subsequent tracks will be played through the selected "Play to" device.

As I say, it doesn't seem really intuitive. I would have thought that selecting the "Play to" device first would be the logical way of doing it; but until a track starts playing, you can't select a "play to" device...

I am not sure if this feature is already available, but is there a "play to" function and/or is this going to be a feature in future releases? I love the interface of the metro version but I would love it more if I could "play to" my network speakers. I will even volunteer to be a guinea pig for testing. If this is already a feature would you be so kind to walk me through the process.