After Internet Explorer, no Windows Media Player for Macintosh

After Internet Explorer, no Windows Media Player for Macintosh

Software giants Microsoft sometime back announced that they were stopping all activities related to their Internet Explorer web browser for the Macintosh platform. The latest news in is that the company has also now decided to stop developing their media player application ‘Windows Media Player’ for the Macintosh.

The company is now directing people to third party solutions capable of playing files in their proprietary formats in Mac media applications like the Apple QuickTime. Media encoding specialist Telestream confirmed earlier this week that Microsoft has agreed to distribute Windows Media components for QuickTime. They are using the services of Flip4Mac technology for this purpose.

Microsoft is also now directing people visiting their Mac WMP section to a webpage, which offers a free download of Flip4Mac. However, the version 9 for Mac OS X and version 7.1 for the older Mac are still available on their website. They have no plans to launch the Windows Media Player 10 for Macintosh platform.

Market analysts believe that such a step is to save resources for other tasks, which are more important for the company. There is also a feeling that the company did not get enough resources from Apple to develop an application for Mac, which is as capable as their application for the Windows Operating System.

Interestingly, Apple has no similar plans and is doing great by offering both Apple iTunes and Apple QuickTime for the windows platform.

Download: Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X