reverse capability

The backwards compatability is being tested by the Xbox preview program users, I don't expect it will be to long but you may find that only a few games will be available to begin with. I don't think every game will work but I imagine most will.

I'm going to guess that background music playback is a feature that Microsoft did not think was worth keeping...kind of like Kinect support.

Most people have a plethora of devices that can playback music that programming in background support for the One just wasn't something Microsoft could be bothered to do.

If I had a great audio system, I wouldn't run audio through a gaming console. I would mute the console and blast my better "system". As far as plastic spinning discs go...you are lucky the new consoles still have them. The new generation thinks "disc ripping"
is for old people.

Figures the first person to respond actually knew what One meant!! LOL, I am willing to bet you're in the minority of individuals who know and understand that.

See, I am VERY music oriented. My home theater system is set-up around music first and foremost, as I even have tower speakers still. My driving experience is better with music, I cook while listening to music, I clean to music, and I love to play games,
ESPECIALLY racing games, to my music, to which the original Forza's actually advertised that you could listen to your own tracks while playing.....just wondering where the gaming for me went...

It IS for old people....like me!! But I like the game sounds while I'm playing, just with my music. I am just curious as to how something so simple is not even a standard feature, considering the slew of EVERY other device, minus a few notable exceptions.
Hell, even my work phone has my music on it so I can bluetooth it to my Bose Soundlink 2 portable speaker. Am I becoming the minority in that I feel I should own physically what I pay for? And more importantly, how hard is it to to write software to rip a
cd to the HD, or even play from an external one with a NEW generation, bluray, 4K, dvd player in a game box?

"I should own physically what I pay for?"

If you mean you should own the CD/Blu Ray then fine, but you don't own what's on the CD/Blu Ray, all you own is a license to use whats on the media, but I'm sure you already know that.

Anyway, to get back to your original question (and what a read to get to it) as someone else has said Microsoft probably looked at the statistics of who used the feature on the 360 and though it wasn't worth implementing the feature. I mean I personally
don't see the point because it breaks immersion, would you really want to be playing a game like Resident Evil while some trash like Miley Cyrus is playing? (not saying your a Miley Cyrus fan, just using her as an example)

This is the way I see it... There are plenty of other ways to get music to play (and much like Shaggy, I don't bother). Whether you prefer to "own physically" what you pay for or not is irrelevant if/when most other users are fine with streaming from another
source. Seems to me that by saying "It IS for old people....like me!!" you've answered your own question(s). It isn't that it'd be hard to write software to rip a CD to the HD... that's not hard. Much like it wouldn't have been hard to keep producing cassette
players to listen to our music from... but the Xbox 360 didn't have one.

Yup, I was waiting for it. You really think I was being serious about being old? Answering my own question? Seriously? The answer as to why a built in music player/ cd ripper is because I'm old? Cassettes were well long gone by the time the Original XBox
and 360 came along thus allowing for cd's to be ripped. Are you saying cd's are no longer produced? Because if so, you might want to let Amazon know that I keep paying for cd's that I keep getting, that they're not made anymore...or supported.

And what's your sample size for "most" users? I think most users prefer to NOT stream. Of course that's what I think, not know. Again, I wasn't asking for opinions. I was wanting to know a real world manufacturing/ software programming reason as to why such
a simple thing was not included, especially since I think it takes just as much if not more resources to build in a streaming service and software to run it, along with emails, user names, and the great m $ induced stupid password system.

See me personally, I think it's kind of stupid to be slathering your user name and passwords all over the internet as is required by social anything done on this box or a laptop/ pc. But I'm not discounting the way individuals choose to receive their media.
I am asking why a simple way of receiving it has been eliminated in place of the social aspect of it.

Again, I'm looking for an answer, not a defense of momma m $ and their decision to go all social. Just a simple why did the last two generations of consoles have it but this one doesn't? This is all based on the idea put forth by none other than m $ themselves
that this was to be an all-in-one box. I say, make it so.