Microsoft has released their proprietary media software, Windows Media Player 7, for the Macintosh. Windows Media Player is a tool for handling a wide variety of media formats including their own Windows Media format. While Mac users may be more inclined to use QuickTime or RealPlayer when possible, many sites use only the Windows Media format, previously leaving Mac users out in the cold.
Microsoft released a version of Windows Media Player for the Macintosh last year, but version 7 marks a major upgrade and aims to put the Mac version on par with the Windows counterpart. According to Microsoft:
Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 for Mac brings the best audio and video to millions of Mac users with full support for the industry-leading Windows Media Technologies. This release also sports a new design and supports playback of MP3 files. Windows Media Player 7 for Mac provides content providers with the ability to quickly develop content while reaching the largest possible audience.
Windows Media Player 7 features:
- Local and streamed playback of Windows Media and MP3 files, including .asf, .wma, .wmv, .asx, .wmx, .wax, .wm, .wvx, and .mp3 extensions
- ASX version 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 parsing
- UDP, TCP/IP, HTTP and multicast streaming
- Protocol automatic ordering and rollover
- Multiple bit rates
- Intelligent streaming
- Logging
- Favorites
- Closed captioning
- HTTP basic authentication
- Limited Windows Media Download (WMD) support (will not display ICP skin only playback of audio/video)
Windows Media Player 7 is available for free. You can find more information at the Microsoft Web site.