Windows Media Player 9 safe on Panther? No side-effects?

bnoyhtuawbbnoyhtuawb
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Is the Windows Media Player 9 safe to install on Panther? Does it have any impact on the stability of the system? Easy to remove or will it just leave stuff all over the place?



I have very few occasions where I'd need a Windows Media Player, so stability of the player itself is not a concern, just adverse effects on the rest of the system.



Most of the time I can use VLC, but it just does not dig it in all cases.



Opinions welcome!





N. B. the question is not wthether it is ethical to install WMP9 on OS X or whether the MS sucks or whether WMA is a good format or not ...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    It won't affect the system's overall performance. This isn't Windows.



    If you don't like it, a simple drag-and-drop to the Trash will take care of it. Microsoft's Mac Business Unit actually does a decent job making the Mac versions of MS's software act, well, like Mac apps should.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    Microsoft's Mac Business Unit actually does a decent job making the Mac versions of MS's software act, well, like Mac apps should.



    Main discrepency with WMP for OS X is that closing the window quits the application. That's not very Mac-like. But it's pretty minor compared to having to deal with a registry and all that other crap that Windows applications throw around.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    k squaredk squared Posts: 608member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    Main discrepency with WMP for OS X is that closing the window quits the application. That's not very Mac-like. But it's pretty minor compared to having to deal with a registry and all that other crap that Windows applications throw around.



    But that is mac-like for single window applications, right. For example, what about System Preferences? Or iSync?



    My WMP complaints are that there isn't an option to have two windows open at once and the 10.2 style close/min/expand widgets which seem to jump out at you compared to the recessed 10.3 widgets. Oh, and the serious lag in response time from when I click close to when the window actually closes is annoying too.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by k squared

    But that is mac-like for single window applications, right. For example, what about System Preferences? Or iSync?



    Yes, single window applications quit when you hit the close box. Calculator, iSync, etc. But Windows Media Player SHOULD be a multi-window application, like QuickTime.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    dr vannostrandr vannostran Posts: 110member
    I am running 10.2.6 and everytime I use Windows Media Player it seems like it causes Safari to eventually crash. I am using version 7.1. Maybe WMP version 9 is better. I have never had it effect anything other than Safari but I still prefer QuickTime any day.



    I always get stupid movies from my Windoze friends (yeah, I know what kind of friend uses Windows?) they play like crap compared to QuickTime movies. Even Movie Trailers seem to play better with QuickTime.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    dj_booomwhadisdj_booomwhadis Posts: 6member
    I`m using WMP 9 quite often on a dual 1.8/Panther since ît's the only way to get WM3 encoded clips to work. No issues regarding my system here - BUT: Going fullscreen will make all fans go to full blast ... OMG
  • Reply 7 of 9
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    I take it these newer, encoded WMP videos are the ones that end up showing a black screen with only sound when I play them on my older WMP player?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    Remember this is NOT a full feature WMP9 as seen on Windows. Some files won't play.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    bnoyhtuawbbnoyhtuawb Posts: 456member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dj_booomwhadis

    I`m using WMP 9 quite often on a dual 1.8/Panther since ît's the only way to get WM3 encoded clips to work. No issues regarding my system here - BUT: Going fullscreen will make all fans go to full blast ... OMG



    I found that WMP tpically uses about double the CPU as RealOne player for the same video. I found a few sites offering both encodings for the same content (eg news.com) and did the comparison that way.
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