WMP Brief History 7:36 PM

by Gee Jay Coleco

Windows Media Player (WMP) came from a very interesting background. As we all know, WMP is a component of Microsoft Windows.

Back in 1991, before WMP was released, there was just Media Player. To avoid confusion, I will capitalize the first letters of the words “Media Player” on Windows as opposed to the general term “media player.”

Media Player is a media player originally included in Windows 3.0, one of the earliest version of Windows OS, with Multimedia Extensions and a slightly updated version was included with Windows 3.1x.

Media Player received a facelift with Video for Windows, with an OLE2 version provided with the runtime software. This version forms the basis for the 32-bit version included with Windows 95 and later versions.

Video for Windows was a multimedia framework developed by Microsoft that allowed Microsoft Windows with the ability to play digital video files in an AVI container format.

Screenshot of Media Player on Windows 95

As of Windows 98, Media Player was rendered obsolete; hence, releasing WMP as the replacement. Media Player is still included in Windows XP; however, it is no longer included in Windows Vista.

Screenshot of Media Player on Windows XP

Media Player Version Releases:

1991 - Media Player 3.0 in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions

1992 - Media Player 3.1 in Windows 3.1

1992 - Media Player 3.15 in Windows 3.1 with Video for Windows installed

1995 - Media Player 4.0 in Windows 95

1999 - Media Player 5.0 in Windows 2000

2004 - Media Player 5.1 in Windows XP

In 1996 Microsoft released ActiveMovie, a replacement for Video for Windows that incorporates a new way of dealing with media files, and adds support for streaming media (which the original Media Player couldn't handle). ActiveMovie was renamed to DirectShow in 1996 and a new Media Player was created.

WMP's old logo

WMP's new logo

WMP v.6.4 was included with Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, but was dropped in Windows Vista. WMP v.11 and up are the compatible versions for Windows Vista. For the the history of version releases, please click here.

Windows Media Player v. 11 on Mini Mode

Windows Media Player v. 11 on Mini Mode showing visualization

Currently, the latest version of WMP available to date is version 11. WMP v.12 will be released with Windows 7 OS.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Player_(Microsoft)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_for_Windows

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Player

Media Player Overview 7:02 PM

by Gee Jay Coleco

Media player, in general, is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.

Some media players focus only on audio or video and are known as audio players and video players, respectively. The producers of these players usually focus on providing a better user experience as they are specifically tailored toward the media type.

Of course, some media players are proprietary or own, and some are what they call GPL or General Public License meaning it is free. For a list of media players, please click here.

With the variety of media players available, there are two players that we will discuss: Windows Media Player (own) and VLC Media Player (open source).

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_player_(application_software)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpl