Inside Mac OS X Snow Leopard: QuickTime X

[AppleInsider]

As jingle-pundits desperately try to denigrate Snow Leopard as a "Service Pack," Apple's new operating system reference release actually expands the reach of the Mac platform in several important and under-reported new directions. Here's the first in a series looking closer at some of Snow Leopard's well-known, but often misrepresented or misunderstood features.

Meet QuickTime X

It is commonly reported that Snow Leopard's new QuickTime X (that's X for ten, not "ex") shows full screen movies without the Pro upgrade nag and allows for screen video captures and uploads to YouTube. Yes, those features are nice, but only the tip of the iceberg.

Essentially, Apple has pulled an iMovie 08 here: rather than enhancing features of the current QuickTime 7.x, Apple has replaced it entirely with a new version written from the ground up to create a launching pad for a new generation of media-related development. Snow Leopard's QuickTime X is actually derived from work done to build the iPhone's mobile optimized, embedded QuickTime playback software.

Also like iMovie 08, the new QuickTime X doesn't do everything that the previous QuickTime 7.x does, such as providing complex transcoding options, component plugins for installing alternative codecs, or the ability to hint tracks for RTSP streaming via QuickTime Streaming Server. That's why Apple includes an updated version of the previous QuickTime 7.x player as an optional install in Snow Leopard to handle all of those features.

What QuickTime X does do is add more features that people will actually use regularly, things like automated transcoding and export for sharing content to MobileMe, YouTube, and iTunes as well as full screen and panoramic movie playback, simple trim editing controls, ColorSync support, and screen capture video recording.*All with no nagging to buy a Pro version upgrade.



HTTP Live Streaming

But the real potential for QuickTime X relates to HTTP Live Streaming, a new open protocol for dishing out live or on-demand video streams using standard web requests.

If streaming playback were only limited to QuickTime X in Snow Leopard, this might not be that big of a deal, but Apple has lined up support from content delivery networks and already added HTTP Live Streaming to iPhone 3.0.

That means there are already over 45 million mobile clients optimized to view HTTP Live Streaming videos; that installed base also happens to consume a plurality of the world's mobile web traffic. Add in new QuickTime X clients on the desktop and Apple has a ready-made dominant standing in mobile video streaming.

Apple TV 3.0

What about Apple TV 3.0? There could be more information on that in the coming iPod event on September 9, but it's safe to say that Apple TV will eventually also offer HTTP Live Streaming on it, too. This will make the device much more "TV like," in that it will be able to peruse streaming video feeds without requiring an initial progressive download.

Having a cheap, flexible and open protocol for delivering video to millions of iPhone, iPod touch, QuickTime, and Apple TV viewers will democratize live and on-demand video publishing just like podcasting has, enabling anyone to set up live feeds of events without needing a specialized RTSP streaming server.

Having a cheap playback appliance that makes it easy to view these feeds on your TV should definitely help Apple TV gain traction, particularly once Apple lowers its price again. But HTTP Live Streaming will also benefit PC users in general, including Linux users as the new protocol is entirely based on open standards and can be implemented using open software. That will help erase the efforts to force video content into proprietary formats like WMV that only work on Windows.

The QuickTime X Foundation

Snow Leopard's new QuickTime X dusts off the company's now nearly twenty year old QuickTime technology portfolio and implements Mac OS X's media capabilities using new code that is both fluent in 64-bit Cocoa as well as GPU-savvy on the latest generation Macs using NVIDIA's 9400M.

In the future, Apple will flesh out QuickTime X to incorporate editing and plugin features currently only available in the previous 7.x version, much as the company incrementally transitioned from 68k or PowerPC chips, or from the classic Mac OS to Mac OS X, or from Carbon to Cocoa, each time using a temporary bridge. This transition will also impact Apple's Final Cut Studio suite, which is currently tied to the old QuickTime, Carbon, and 32-bit code.

Apple's QuickTime role is therefore more than just as a platform developer; it's also a major client application developer. This will force the company to make QuickTime X a practical, developer-friendly, and capable technology in contrast to the complex and arcane PowerTalk and QuickDraw GX it tried to foist upon developers back in the early 90s.

Up next: everybody knows Snow Leopard delivers new 64-bit features, but what's new about 64-bits, why does it matter, which Macs will benefit, and where does that take the Mac platform in the future? Inside Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bits will examine.

Inside Mac OS X Snow Leopard: GPU Optimization
Inside Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Exchange Support
Inside Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Malware Protection



Daniel Eran Dilger is the author of "Snow Leopard Server (Developer Reference)," a new book from Wiley available now for pre-order at a special price from Amazon.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[robreed]

I'm happy to see this sort of informative, well-written post among the content on appleinsider.com. It represents a meaningful contribution to the community, and demonstrates a commitment to the platform, beyond the rumors and forecasts. Just wanted to say that it's appreciated. Looking forward to the next one.

[CREB]

I too am tired of hearing that it is a Service Pack (Microsoft shills to be sure). People who have grown-up with Apple know that Snow Leopard represents a demarcation, and a move forward. (Anyone here remember when Macs had floppy drives and how that was handled by Apple?)

[dak splunder]

No plugins for add'l codecs?
I assume that means Perian is dead for QuickTime X?

That's not good. Installing Perian made QuickTime Player play everything -- perfect for novices, and perfect for me, not having to think about what player works with what codec.

I hope there's a way around this.

:d

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by CREB

I too am tired of hearing that it is a Service Pack (Microsoft shills to be sure). People who have grown-up with Apple know that Snow Leopard represents a demarcation, and a move forward. (Anyone here remember when Macs had floppy drives and how that was handled by Apple?)

Whenever someone says it is just a service pack, just link this article:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...-os-x-10-6.ars

I have now idea how a review of a service pack could span 23 pages.

[logic368]

hey, guys, i have a question..

i just installed snow leopard, and i, of course, have quicktime X. But when i play back something on the web, the quicktime plugin that is used is still 7.something. Is it supposed to be like this? i heard that they updated the plugin too, but I'm not so sure... if they did, how can i get safari to use the Quicktime X plugin? thanks

[brucep]

Originally Posted by logic368

hey, guys, i have a question..

i , how can i get safari to use the Quicktime X plugin? thanks

Ask nicely

[Retrogusto]

Interesting that they got D.E. Dilger to write this one--I guess Prince McLean was busy. Unless...

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by dak splunder

No plugins for add'l codecs?
I assume that means Perian is dead for QuickTime X?

That's not good. Installing Perian made QuickTime Player play everything -- perfect for novices, and perfect for me, not having to think about what player works with what codec.

I hope there's a way around this.

:d

Quicktime is confusing becase there are 4 Quicktimes, not two.

Quicktime X API
Quicktime X Player
Quicktime 7 API
Quicktime 7 Player

The API's enable playback, while the players are two programs that you can use to display the content.

All but the Quicktime 7 player is installed (with the default install settings) and the Quicktime X player supports the Quicktime 7 API, so any codecs that worked for Quicktime 7 will work for the Quicktime X player through the Quicktime 7 API.

"Also, the new QuickTime Player can indeed play movies using third-party plug-ins—a feature clearly powered by QuickTime 7."

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...s/16#qt-player

You wouldn't need to install the Quicktime 7 player unless you wanted the more advanced editing features it has. Quicktime X can handle all the playback. I would imagine as the Quicktime X platform moves forward, third party plugins will eventually be supported on the Quicktime X API as well.

[ejam2000]

So is it not clear that Apple via iTunes platform could take out YouTube...rumor is they are adding social media to it next week, and then how much harder to have users start uploading their own content...and with the integration to iphone, AppleTV, etc......could they not step on Youtube....of course given youtubes financials maybe they don't want to.

[camroidv27]

Like iMovie08, it appears that they are taking out some critcal stuff too, banking on their own codecs. Not a swift move.

Secondly, I'm curious who will adapt the HTTP streaming. I would definitely like it much more since it is open (and thus other OSs can use it... er wait, do use a la VLC) but I don't see larger media companies going for the open thing. Most larger companies will want you to install their own media player (which sucks btw) to view content.

Yay for opensource. That does make me happy

Also, AppleInsider, I would like more of this kind of thing than the "Steve to be at Sept. 9th" and "Steve won't be at Sept. 9th" etc... I don't much care about the little day to day things. In depth stuff like this is much better.

[Beauty of Bath]

Originally Posted by Retrogusto

Interesting that they got D.E. Dilger to write this one--I guess Prince McLean was busy. Unless...

You missed the part where he promoted his book, kinda difficult to do that with an alter ego.

[Dreil]

Basically, and this is partly from the Ars review, QTX autoloads portions of QT7 for things that it can't handle, like exports or different codecs. So QT should still function just fine by loading the necessary parts. More will be fleshed out later.

[AdamIIGS]

I actually enjoy the fact you can click on a music file icon and play that song without launching quicktime or iTunes, small feature but I find it really useful.

[MacTel]

Can't wait till my Deskjet D1430 is supported and Mail and Safari stop crashing with the spinning beach ball.

I may have to buy a new printer - not very green of HP or Apple to abandon 2 year old printers with new OS releases.

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by cmf2

Quicktime is confusing becase there are 4 Quicktimes, not two.

Quicktime X API
Quicktime X Player
Quicktime 7 API
Quicktime 7 Player

The API's enable playback, while the players are two programs that you can use to display the content.

All but the Quicktime 7 player is installed (with the default install settings) and the Quicktime X player supports the Quicktime 7 API, so any codecs that worked for Quicktime 7 will work for the Quicktime X player through the Quicktime 7 API.

"Also, the new QuickTime Player can indeed play movies using third-party plug-ins—a feature clearly powered by QuickTime 7."

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...s/16#qt-player

You wouldn't need to install the Quicktime 7 player unless you wanted the more advanced editing features it has. Quicktime X can handle all the playback. I would imagine as the Quicktime X platform moves forward, third party plugins will eventually be supported on the Quicktime X API as well.

However, Quicktime X refuses to play any MKV files, even when Perian is installed. =/

[~Johan]

Originally Posted by MacTel

Can't wait till my Deskjet D1430 is supported and Mail and Safari stop crashing with the spinning beach ball.

I may have to buy a new printer - not very green of HP or Apple to abandon 2 year old printers with new OS releases.

At our small office we still use the best printer ever made: the Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS. Fast, smooth, professional looking output etc. BUT it doesn't work anymore with Snow Leopard. Now we all (4 persons) try to return to OS X 10.5, but we don't have all full backups. Terrible. If we had known before we would NEVER had bought Snow Leopard...

~Johan

[supremedesigner]

Originally Posted by MacTel

Can't wait till my Deskjet D1430 is supported and Mail and Safari stop crashing with the spinning beach ball.

I may have to buy a new printer - not very green of HP or Apple to abandon 2 year old printers with new OS releases.

Good news! I no longer have to install the crappy HP drivers or softwares directly from hp.com but instead I get a nice update from snow leopard software update.

On system preference, it's the only two things I ever wanted: Print and Scan. See the link: http://is.gd/2LSpr

Cheers!

[Bregalad]

Originally Posted by ~Johan

At our small office we still use the best printer ever made: the Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS. Fast, smooth, professional looking output etc. BUT it doesn't work anymore with Snow Leopard. Now we all (4 persons) try to return to OS X 10.5, but we don't have all full backups. Terrible. If we had known before we would NEVER had bought Snow Leopard...

~Johan

Apple finally drops full support for a 15 year old device and you're upset?

OK, time to be more helpful. You'll find that Apple does include a print driver for the 16/600 in Snow Leopard. The catch is that Snow Leopard doesn't include the AppleTalk networking protocol so you either have to use TCP/IP to talk to your printer or, if the printer doesn't allow that, use an older computer as a print server.

You do NOT have to revert your entire office to 10.5. Worst case scenario you have to revert one computer.

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

However, Quicktime X refuses to play any MKV files, even when Perian is installed. =/

Hmm... I haven't tested it myself yet, just going off what I learned in the Ars review. I have no idea why they wouldn't work. Maybe it's a Snow Leopard thing, and unreleated to Quicktime X. Have you checked to see if they would play in Quicktime 7 (if you installed it)?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by ~Johan

At our small office we still use the best printer ever made: the Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS. Fast, smooth, professional looking output etc. BUT it doesn't work anymore with Snow Leopard. Now we all (4 persons) try to return to OS X 10.5, but we don't have all full backups. Terrible. If we had known before we would NEVER had bought Snow Leopard...

~Johan

I know this is unhelpful to a degree because the damage is already done, but what's with upgrading a computer without making a fresh backup first? I realize Apple's software is pretty reliable, but with any OS update of significance, you're usually making a change that can't be easily reversed without a backup.

I'm surprised you can still get toner cartridges for a 15 year old printer model. More power to you though, it's tough finding a reliable printer these days, stick with what you know works if you can.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

It is commonly reported that Snow Leopard's new QuickTime X (that's X for ten, not "ex") shows full screen movies without the Pro upgrade nag ... as full screen and panoramic movie playback...*All with no nagging to buy a Pro version upgrade.

Obviously you haven't used the non-pro QuickTime player in quite some time. You've been able to play full-screen video for quite some time with no upgrade nag.

Originally Posted by cmf2

Quicktime is confusing becase there are 4 Quicktimes, not two.

Quicktime X API
Quicktime X Player
Quicktime 7 API
Quicktime 7 Player

The API's enable playback, while the players are two programs that you can use to display the content.

All but the Quicktime 7 player is installed (with the default install settings) and the Quicktime X player supports the Quicktime 7 API, so any codecs that worked for Quicktime 7 will work for the Quicktime X player through the Quicktime 7 API.

"Also, the new QuickTime Player can indeed play movies using third-party plug-ins—a feature clearly powered by QuickTime 7."

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...s/16#qt-player

You wouldn't need to install the Quicktime 7 player unless you wanted the more advanced editing features it has. Quicktime X can handle all the playback. I would imagine as the Quicktime X platform moves forward, third party plugins will eventually be supported on the Quicktime X API as well.

The article was actually very superficial, and you've provided information that the author should have included in the first place. I would even split QuickTime 7 Player into the pro and non-pro flavors (yes, technically it's the same app). QuickTime X Player falls somewhere between those two, functionality-wise.

And this wasn't really a surprise. All you had to do was look at the screen shots of the 10.6 installer and see that the optional QT 7 install was only 10 MB, and could therefore only be the player application, not the entire QT framework. And since iMovie still supports all the codec options, it stood to reason that all of QT 7's capabilities were still there. It's just that QuickTime X Player doesn't support them all.

This whole mess reminds me of when I hung onto a copy of the QuickTime MoviePlayer 2.5 application because Apple switched to the pro/non-pro version of the player. The 2.5 player continued to work fine and utilized the newer QT frameworks giving me all the "pro" features of the newer players.

There's still some confusion as to whether the QuickTime X Player will play QuickTime VR. I'm still waiting for my copy of 10.6, so can't verify. Anyone?

[anonymouse]

Originally Posted by Bregalad

Apple finally drops full support for a 15 year old device and you're upset?

OK, time to be more helpful. You'll find that Apple does include a print driver for the 16/600 in Snow Leopard. The catch is that Snow Leopard doesn't include the AppleTalk networking protocol so you either have to use TCP/IP to talk to your printer or, if the printer doesn't allow that, use an older computer as a print server.

You do NOT have to revert your entire office to 10.5. Worst case scenario you have to revert one computer.

Well, it did cost around $1500.00, plus, another $250, I think, for a LocalTalk<->Ethernet bridge.

I guess I don't feel so bad now about mine having recently died, though.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by robreed

I'm happy to see this sort of informative, well-written post among the content on appleinsider.com. It represents a meaningful contribution to the community, and demonstrates a commitment to the platform, beyond the rumors and forecasts. Just wanted to say that it's appreciated. Looking forward to the next one.

I would love to see budding authors be given such high visibility and thus lend credibility back to AppleInsider.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

However, Quicktime X refuses to play any MKV files, even when Perian is installed. =/

Maybe that's because MKV files are the most obscure, unsupported, files you could possibly be trying to play?

Why are people so negative? This is an amazing update to the Quicktime structure that lays the foundation for the future without deprecating anything, and without introducing a lot of confusion like multiple players and multiple versions.

Yet the first thing people do is complain about the fact that things are being deprecated (when they are not), and complain about the multiple versions when it's completely irrelevant.

Yes, behind the scenes there are multiple quicktime versions and code-bases being used. So what? How is this a problem to keep supporting the old stuff while moving forward with the new and to do so in a way that's invisible to the end user?

Seems rather brilliant to me.

[ls1z28chris]

Just use the extra install items on the Snow Leopard disc and install Quicktime 7 for Snow Leopard. Use that to play your MKV and WMV files. Yeah, it sucks, but that is the best solution I've come across.

[woofpup]

Originally Posted by MacTel

Can't wait till my Deskjet D1430 is supported and Mail and Safari stop crashing with the spinning beach ball.

I may have to buy a new printer - not very green of HP or Apple to abandon 2 year old printers with new OS releases.

Apple/HP are apparently a bit behind with getting drivers out for 10.6 for this and other printers, but it the Deskjet D1400 series is listed as supported so it should have a driver via Software Update soon.

I ran into this with my HP PSC 1200 series as well but in the meantime, I installed the 10.5 Leopard HP drivers off the Leopard disc and it's working.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

Maybe that's because MKV files are the most obscure, unsupported, files you could possibly be trying to play?

Why are people so negative? This is an amazing update to the Quicktime structure that lays the foundation for the future without deprecating anything, and without introducing a lot of confusion like multiple players and multiple versions.

Yet the first thing people do is complain about the fact that things are being deprecated (when they are not), and complain about the multiple versions when it's completely irrelevant.

Yes, behind the scenes there are multiple quicktime versions and code-bases being used. So what? How is this a problem to keep supporting the old stuff while moving forward with the new and to do so in a way that's invisible to the end user?

Seems rather brilliant to me.

I think the problem people are having it that it's NOT invisible. Now I have to figure out why some of my files won't play anymore. Now I have to decide if I need to install the QT7 player. And now I have to pick which app to open my video file in depending on if it will play or what I want to do with it.

I'm not saying that it wasn't necessary. They could have made one player that could access both sets of APIs, but that wouldn't have encouraged developers to migrate to the new framework. But it's anything but "invisible" to the end user.

[Cory Bauer]

The removal of some very important features in QuickTime Player X leaves me wondering just how the hell I'm going to get some day to day procedures done after they stop supporting the older player nestled away in the Utilities folder. They've eliminated the ability to copy/paste frames for exporting as an image sequence or pasting into another application. They've done away entirely with the ability to export anything, instead giving you only the option to save in the H264 format at various Apple-device sizes. Gone is the ability to adjust the display size and countless other aspects of a movie file. And you can no longer start two movies at the exact same time — very useful when comparing multiple versions of a video.

I was so looking forward to the trim and screen recording capabilities of QuickTime Player X as it eliminates the need for several third party programs, and now I'm left having to find new third party programs to make up for all of the lost capabilities. Apple needs to deliver a Pro version of QuickTime Player once again, and pronto.

[Targon]

Windowz lusers - pay attention this is the Macintosh Platform.

there aint no

Service Packs
Patches
RTM's
Motherboards
Wallpapers
file cut n paste
MAC

or any other stupid windowisms u lusers are corrupting us with.

learn the lingo or fsck off

System Upgrades
System Updates
Golden Masters
Logic Boards
Desktop Pictures
move or copy via drag n drop
it's fsckin Mac short for Macintosh there aint not ancronym!!!

[Dorotea]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

HTTP Live Streaming

....
What about Apple TV 3.0? There could be more information on that in the coming iPod event on September 9, but it's safe to say that Apple TV will eventually also offer HTTP Live Streaming on it, too. This will make the device much more "TV like," in that it will be able to peruse streaming video feeds without requiring an initial progressive download.

Having a cheap, flexible and open protocol for delivering video to millions of iPhone, iPod touch, QuickTime, and Apple TV viewers will democratize live and on-demand video publishing just like podcasting has, enabling anyone to set up live feeds of events without needing a specialized RTSP streaming server.

streaming video might be nice for a lot of people, but the progressive download works well when your home is surrounded by 10 wireless networks. Interference can really be a problem.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by Targon

Windowz lusers - pay attention this is the Macintosh Platform.

there aint no

Service Packs
Patches
RTM's
Motherboards
Wallpapers
file cut n paste
MAC

or any other stupid windowisms u lusers are corrupting us with.

learn the lingo or fsck off

System Upgrades
System Updates
Golden Masters
Logic Boards
Desktop Pictures
move or copy via drag n drop
it's fsckin Mac short for Macintosh there aint not ancronym!!!

[Strawberry]

Originally Posted by Targon

Embarrassing crap

[mediaphile]

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

Maybe that's because MKV files are the most obscure, unsupported, files you could possibly be trying to play?

Guess you don't download many high definition movies.

They are not obscure, and with Perian, not unsupported. In fact, my standalone LG Blu-ray player supports playback of high-definition MKV files via a USB hard-drive, which is great because the MKV container can hold multiple surround sound audio streams as well as subtitles, perfect for HD movies.

[DCJ001]

Originally Posted by ls1z28chris

Just use the extra install items on the Snow Leopard disc and install Quicktime 7 for Snow Leopard. Use that to play your MKV and WMV files. Yeah, it sucks, but that is the best solution I've come across.

QuickTime X does play WMVs.

You may need to Get Info on a WMV file, change the Open with to QuickTime Player.app, and then Change All.

I haven't found any MKV's yet to see what's going on with them.

[Kolchak]

Originally Posted by ls1z28chris

Just use the extra install items on the Snow Leopard disc and install Quicktime 7 for Snow Leopard. Use that to play your MKV and WMV files. Yeah, it sucks, but that is the best solution I've come across.

A better solution would be to use VLC. Quicktime Player is a far second place for me, even though I've had Perian for ages. VLC is just a far more full-featured media player.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by mediaphile

Guess you don't download many high definition movies.

They are not obscure, and with Perian, not unsupported. In fact, my standalone LG Blu-ray player supports playback of high-definition MKV files via a USB hard-drive, which is great because the MKV container can hold multiple surround sound audio streams as well as subtitles, perfect for HD movies.

Get a grip.

It's an open-source alternative for high-definition files from Russia. It only has any traction at all because at the moment almost no one is using HD video codecs except the torrent freaks and rippers. At least not one that can be agreed upon by all parties. The big media companies prefer to sell the HD stuff on plastic of course.

The number of people into HD video who don't just buy BlueRay discs is basically tiny at the moment and MKV is hardly accepted or standard much of anywhere. It has virtually no hardware media player support and no support in either Windows Media Player or Quicktime (natively) which are the two most common software media players.

From Wikipedia:

Originally Posted by wiki

The first chipset to include Matroska Video support has (just) been released by Texas Instruments under the name "DaVinci". It is used in the Cowon A3 portable media player. Although an increasing number of standalone players now support the AVI format, thus far Matroska support is practically nonexistent. Support in this area is essential for the container to achieve the degree of ubiquity foreseen by its proponents. There is a sort of "chicken and egg" logjam where the manufacturers hesitate to support it because it is not widely used, and it is not widely used because of very limited hardware support.

I'm not saying it doesn't have potential (despite the drawbacks of being open source and used by pirates mostly), but it *is* obscure, and it *is* (mostly) unsupported by anyone. the Perian guys writing a codec support for it doesn't mean it's mainstream in any way shape or form.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

I think the problem people are having it that it's NOT invisible. Now I have to figure out why some of my files won't play anymore. Now I have to decide if I need to install the QT7 player. And now I have to pick which app to open my video file in depending on if it will play or what I want to do with it.

I'm not saying that it wasn't necessary. They could have made one player that could access both sets of APIs, but that wouldn't have encouraged developers to migrate to the new framework. But it's anything but "invisible" to the end user.

I'm not installing Snow Leopard until the weekend, but to answer your question, all files that played in the previous Quicktime should play in Quicktime X. If they don't, you have an unforeseen problem not related to Quicktime X or Snow Leopard.

You don't have to install Quicktime 7 in Snow Leopard unless you just like the look of the player or need some of the features of that player like the ability to extract tracks from the container or paste two videos together and stuff like that. It's just an interface question, all the stuff that *is* Quicktime 7, especially the codecs is still there in the background.

In fact, Quicktime X only plays a very small set of files. Most of the time if you look at the process manager it's loading Quicktime 7 in the background to run the files and the plug-ins like Perian still work with that. It *should* be invisible whereas if they did it the other way with two players, you'd have to figure out which player to use all the time because all the codecs and plug-ins would work with one or the other but not both.

[rnp1]

Calling anything Apple a "Service Pack" makes me wanna run for an ice pack!
On the bright side, "Service Pack" is a truly Microsoft invention!
One of their engineers explained to me that they are a necessity. Why? Because any Windows release is only about 10% functional when it first come out. After they find out what people want, they make it actually work. Sadly, that's a true story. But then Microsoft goes out of their way to do things "different" than Apple.

[GQB]

Originally Posted by camroidv27

Also, AppleInsider, I would like more of this kind of thing than the "Steve to be at Sept. 9th" and "Steve won't be at Sept. 9th" etc... I don't much care about the little day to day things. In depth stuff like this is much better.

Just cut to the chase and go to roughlydrafted.com for reams of Daniel's writing.