Windows Media Player woes
Heya- is there a way NOT to install windows media and still be able to watch wmv's in safari/browsers? I have VLC, though this is an external player...?
Really don't want to be installing so many freaking media players - wish there was simply only itunes and quicktime.
Cheers.
Really don't want to be installing so many freaking media players - wish there was simply only itunes and quicktime.
Cheers.
Comments
Originally posted by quamb
Heya- is there a way NOT to install windows media and still be able to watch wmv's in safari/browsers? I have VLC, though this is an external player...?
Really don't want to be installing so many freaking media players - wish there was simply only itunes and quicktime.
Cheers.
VLC on the Mac does not play files that require Windows Media Player 9. The Flip4Mac QuickTime codec will do the trick if you pay the fee. Otherwise, it plays only the first 30 seconds of the file. As for files that require Windows Media Player 10, the only way to play these on the Mac is to use Windows XP on VPC.
I was guessing that it was time to upgrade from WMP 8 to 9 and so I downloaded WMP 9 installer from Microsoft. When I launched the installer it said it was preparing to install 510 items. Isn't that a lot of support files for just a media player? I decided I could live without seeing another stupid emailed movie.
It seems to me that when ever I encounter a movie on the internet that is WMV, it plays choppy. Movies that are MPEG play so much better. Is that because I'm using a Mac? Do WMV movies play choppy on Windows too?
Originally posted by Dr VanNostran
Why does Windows Media Player suck so bad? For some reason many of my friends send me Windows Media Player movies. Most of the time I can easily view them with the Windows Media Player for the Mac. Lately I can't open any movies using WMP. I can't open older movies I have viewed before either.
I was guessing that it was time to upgrade from WMP 8 to 9 and so I downloaded WMP 9 installer from Microsoft. When I launched the installer it said it was preparing to install 510 items. Isn't that a lot of support files for just a media player? I decided I could live without seeing another stupid emailed movie.
It seems to me that when ever I encounter a movie on the internet that is WMV, it plays choppy. Movies that are MPEG play so much better. Is that because I'm using a Mac? Do WMV movies play choppy on Windows too?
WMP 8 was never released on the Mac. The last version of WMP for MacOS 9 and the first version for MacOS X was WMP 7. Microsoft skipped WMP 8 and went directly to WMP 9 for its Mac player. FWIW, WMP 7 was written in Java.
I am still looking for a Real plugin for QuickTime so I do not have to install the Real player on my iBook.
Originally posted by Mr. Me
FWIW, WMP 7 was written in Java. [/B]
Ewwww.
How's Flip4Mac working for you?
Originally posted by Gene Clean
Ewwww.
How's Flip4Mac working for you?
I don't use it. I see absolutely no reason to pay for the privilege of playing WMV files when Microsoft provides a free player--crappy or not--to do the same thing.
Originally posted by Mr. Me
FWIW, WMP 7 was written in Java.
I strongly doubt that.
Originally posted by Chucker
I strongly doubt that.
But it is an indisputable fact. All you have to do is to examine a MacOS 9 installation of WMP 7 to see for yourself.
Apple is gonna win the media war. They've won pretty much won the music battle, they're going to win the video battle and soon most videos will be video iPod-compatible (and thus playable in QuickTime.)
Those that know what's best for them will offer their web video content in H.264. Those that don't will wither and die.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
.rm and .wmv go straight to the trash on this computer.
Apple is gonna win the media war. They've won pretty much won the music battle, they're going to win the video battle and soon most videos will be video iPod-compatible (and thus playable in QuickTime.)
Those that know what's best for them will offer their web video content in H.264. Those that don't will wither and die.
Well, then Apple better come out with a better windows version of QT. Before I switched to my PB I despised QT. BTW, I haven't used QT on windows since a couple releases ago, so they may have gotten better since. Also, my brand new PB (1.67 G4) has a little difficulty playing H.264, it's so processor intensive. In the future this will probably be the standard, but as of right now, for the average user, I don't think it will take off yet.
Is QT the only app that can play H.264?
Originally posted by brclark82
Is QT the only app that can play H.264?
VLC can, and its implementation (x264), while not nearly as high-quality, is much faster.
guess am going to continue living without wmvs in browser windows - which is okay. better then installing wmplayer.
Originally posted by quamb
better then installing wmplayer.
Yeah, right.