Jon Simpson

Update on WMV playback on OS X

12 Jan 2006 — microsoft, wmv-9, macosx

So it seems Microsoft have discontinued Windows Media Player for mac to reduce the size of their mac business unit, and are going to focus more on going forward with business applications. So what replaces it?

Instead of providing a standalone player, they seem to have subsidized the Flip4Mac WMV components for Quicktime, now available for free through the Windows Media site. I can’t really say this is much of an improvement, since reports are that its slower than the standalone player (which wasn’t exactly great itself). People who frequently view streams through Safari may want to keep a copy of the standalone player installed while it still works, as the flip4mac components have several issues in this area.

Also, its nice to notice that I’m not the only one questioning the MacBook Pro’s choices in omitting features present on current Powerbooks.


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