Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X Available

corsa writes "I found Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X on Microsoft's site today. I downloaded it and have it running under Panther. It seems to play WMV9 files, at least the few I've tried so far."

Comments

Die, die, die

[Squozen]

WMP for OS X sucks, pure and simple. On a 1.25Ghz CPU with 1Gb of RAM running a fresh install of Panther, WMP 9 started struggling on a local file after 20-30 seconds, stuttering and skipping frames. Use VLC and hope that they integrate all the annoying Microsoft proprietary codecs soon.

Interestingly, RealPlayer isn't bad at all on the Mac. I held off on installing it for quite a while after seeing all the baggage that came with a Windows install, but it's pretty clean and seems to stream video well.

Re:Ultimate in Downgrades

[mccalli]

Apple is doing it's best to convert Microsoft users by offering them incredible software. Microsoft is offering Mac users shitty knockoffs of Windows software.

Oh come on, even as a happy OS X user I have to say that this bit is slanted. iTunes for Windows doesn't follow any of the guidelines for Windows software - it is, to use (some of) your phraseology, a knockoff of Mac software. Not integrated into the Windows look and feel at all.

So Microsoft made similar decisions for their media player under OS X. Fine. You can argue the quality of the two apps reasonably and objectively, but saying that MS's non-integrating WMP for OS X is a Windows knockoff, but saying that Apple's non-integrating iTunes is "great software" is pure advertising nonsense.

View the software on its merits. It might still fail, but at least you'll have tried the correct approach.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:Ultimate in Downgrades

[Artifex]

iTunes for Windows doesn't follow any of the guidelines for Windows software - it is, to use (some of) your phraseology, a knockoff of Mac software.

Don't forget Quicktime for Windows. Recent editions are better, but only some versions will play some movies, and so forth.

Also, I wonder if the poster saying that Microsoft is offering sucky programs for Mac users knows about Office X. I haven't heard bad things about that, yet.

Conspiracy?

[ZxCv]

Maybe Microsoft is just out to get you. I installed this new version on Saturday, and while its interface could use some work, I found the media support to be a million times better than the last version of WMP for OS X. It not only played the files that the last version wouldn't, but several files that had audio or video glitches when played with the last version now played flawlessly. Perhaps your installation got screwed up? Try reinstalling it, and more importantly, deleting its existing files from ~/Library/Preferences before you reinstall (this second part actually fixed an issue on my friend's machine).

And, while VLC is great, I have still come across a number of files (Windows Media in particular) that it won't play correctly or won't play at all. My best solution has come down to keeping updated versions of QuickTime, RealOne, Windows Media Player, VLC, and Mplayer around. In my experience, this has been the only way to make sure I can play every media file I come across.

Less functionality than version 6.3 ??

[Ineffable 27]

I don't hate this program as much as some of you, but it's a big disappointment. No wonder there's no mention at all of its release on the Microsoft Mac site. Strangely, some of my files which version 6.3 final (for Classic OS) can play just fine, are a no-go with this new version. According to the discussion on MacRumors.com, OS X lacks support for a particular audio codec used in a lot of WM files, which is causing some of the incompatibilities.

However I'm not complaining too much, because some WMV files which VLC could not play for me, run fine. (I haven't tried MPlayer for OS X so I can't comment on that.) And on my 1 GHz G4, it's reasonably fast, and not crash-y. Ugly interface by Apple standards, but actually better than I might have expected. Much less ugly than the Windows version of the player.

Avoid WMP altogether..

[DoctorScooby]

MPlayerOSX kicks ass. MPlayer rules on every platform I use it on and plays nearly every format possible, especially with the add-on codecs (soon to be Slashdotted). I don't even need Quicktime anymore except for sentimental reasons.

Re:Avoid WMP altogether..

[BlackBolt]

MPlayer RULES! I just recommended it to my friend this weekend - he wanted something that could play pretty much everything he threw at it and save him from the jumbled mess that is windows media player. The only problem is that the Win32 version I got my friend uses keyboard controls for everything (FF, REV, etc.) which sucks. The OSX version has a much nicer GUI -- ie, it actually HAS a GUI.

Here's the link to older version

[beetle496]

For me, this version (9) plays audio on some movies that were previously silent, so I like it.

The parent in this thread was asking about 6.3, available only for Classic. The installer left my Classic version of Windows Media Player 7 alone, so I can't imagine it effecting 6.3. Yes, after the install WiMP 7 for OS X disappeared, but that was the point wasn't it? I never followed the debate about 6.3 having advantages over 7.1, so I can't comment there.

As has been pointed out by others, the Mactopia site still lists the previous (7.1) version, so you should at least be able to return to that. I don't know where you can find 6.3 (if that's what you really need), but here's the answer to the parent question:
Windows Media Player for Mac OS X
WindowsMediaInstaller.hqx
Windows Media Player 7.1 for Mac
WMPlayer7_1_EN.hqx