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Microsoft Windows Media Player (version 7 or newer) can play many common media formats. Some people abbreviate the program's name as WMP because, well, it's easier to type than Windows Media Player. WMP comes preinstalled on computers that run Windows Me or Windows XP. Although the name says "Windows," versions of WMP are also available for Macintosh computers that run OS 8 or higher. Figure 1 shows Windows Media Player running in Mac OS X. WMP is even available for Pocket PCs and countless other devices! WMP is available for free download at Microsoft.com
Figure 1: Windows Media Player is required for viewing Windows Media–format movies.
Windows Media Player can play video in MPEG and AVI formats. Although Pinnacle Studio can output both of these formats, they're not terribly useful for online applications because they create big files and have an appetite for resources. Windows Media Player can also play the Windows Media Video (WMV) format, and Studio can output that as well (by using the Streaming option in the Make Movie window). The WMV format provides decent quality (for Web movies) with remarkably small file sizes.
What are the compelling reasons for choosing WMP (the Macintosh version is shown in Figure 1) over other players? Choose Windows Media Player as your format for one or more of the following reasons:
- Most or all of your audience members use Windows. Most Windows users already have WMP installed on their systems, so they won't have to download or install new software before viewing your Windows Media–format movie.
- You want the look, but not the expense and complexity, of streaming media. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of setting up and maintaining a streaming-media server, Windows Media–format files can provide a workable compromise. WMP does a decent simulation of streaming media with progressive downloadable video: When downloading files, WMP begins playing the movie as soon as enough of it is downloaded to ensure uninterrupted playback.
- You're distributing your movie online, and an extremely small file size is more important than quality. The Windows Media format can offer some very small file sizes, which is good if your audience will be downloading your movie over slow dialup Internet connections.
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