MP4 Support in WMP11
Don’t count on MP4 playback out of the box in the next version of the Windows Media Player. I filed this “bug” a few months ago, but apparently not supporting MP4 (by default) in WMP11 is a feature: “Spend the money. Pre-install the codec. The PSP relies on it, the iPod relies on it, and Microsoft should have had its hands in one MP4 spec or another. Drop the political bullsh*t and just do it for the sake of your users who don’t know what’s going on.” Their response this morning was simple: “This is currently expected behavior.” Expected behavior? Language barrier. Perhaps Microsoft is hoping that more people install and use iTunes. I’m not sure why? Meanwhile, I’m looking at my iRiver Clix and wondering… why can’t it support the leading video format?
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13 Comments
Steve Novoselac
July 5th, 2006
at 6:05pm
Totally agree. MP4 support is needed. MOV and RM should be there too. The media formats should work on what player you want to use.
PodSlug :: Media Rumors and Commentary » No MP4 in WMP 11
July 5th, 2006
at 11:55pm
[...] On July 5, 2006, Chris Pirillo wrote: Don’t count on MP4 playback out of the box in the next version of the Windows Media Player. I filed this “bug� a few months ago, but apparently not supporting MP4 (by default) in WMP11 is a feature: “Spend the money. Pre-install the codec. The PSP relies on it, the iPod relies on it, and Microsoft should have had its hands in one MP4 spec or another. Drop the political bullsh*t and just do it for the sake of your users who don’t know what’s going on.� Their response this morning was simple: “This is currently expected behavior.� Expected behavior? Language barrier. Perhaps Microsoft is hoping that more people install and use iTunes. I’m not sure why? Meanwhile, I’m looking at my iRiver Clix and wondering… why can’t it support the leading video format? [source] [...]
Matt Hartley
July 6th, 2006
at 1:40am
I was going to say my bit, but Steve N. above already nailed it perfectly. :o)
Andre Da Costa
July 6th, 2006
at 8:13am
Hi Chris,
That report you filed is more of a suggestion than a bug. File the report again as a DCR (Design Change Request) in the title of the form and it will be taken into consideration, maybe as a Vista Extras feature, possible Media Player update/future version or be included in the next version of Windows after Vista.
me
July 13th, 2006
at 7:51pm
yeah, me too! just check out video.google.com and see the cool feature of being able to download just about any video out there in .mp4 format… great for ipod users, but those of us with the much hyped toshiba gigabeat s are just left wishing we had the ipod because of the lack of codec support direct from microsoft. -just me two cents!
MP4 Soup.com - Will Windows Media Player 11 support MP4 files? |
September 5th, 2006
at 10:58am
[...] Well according to Chris Pirillos blog it will not. Apparently there was a bug in the beta version that was filed but looks like it was ignored. You may need to buy a codec plugin for this feature. [...]
David Boylan
January 17th, 2007
at 7:38am
Hi i have just bought a Grundig VP6200 and i am having problems with it , file transfer on some audio files is fine at 128 kbps but some audio files are at 192 kbps and wont play sounds like a high pitch squel is there a way to change the kbps . Also i cant transfer any video no matter what format xvid divx nothing works can you help
regards Dave
Nieware
May 8th, 2007
at 9:34am
It is because of Zune. The new Microsoft Music strategy to gain more market on the mp3 players. Well actually Zune software supports mp4 and somehow it looks like Microsoft is trying to kill WMP and replace it with zune hardware and software because the mp3 player partner program “plays for sure” didn’t went so well, thats why they made Zune in the first place. Sounds sick but if the zune becomes successful (maybe zune 2.0?! in 2008) they will definately try to remove wmp.
Vishvaka
September 30th, 2007
at 9:04am
windows media player 11 is very good. But only if it could play mp4,m4a,m4e etc. it will be the best media player of FREE. Cool UI!
Ash
January 18th, 2008
at 3:49am
hi, instead of complaining about not being able to play mp4’s in WMP11, just use quicktime.
Sebastian
February 9th, 2008
at 8:18am
Download Xvid and install it first. Then download ffdshow and install it. Then go to start-all programs-ffdshow-video decoder configuration. Change the codec for: Other MPEG4 & Generic to Xvid. That’s how I was able to play .mp4’s in wmp 11
char
February 16th, 2009
at 7:38am
I WISH I HAD A IPOD SO IT WOUDL MAKE ITUNES WORTHWHILE DOWNLOADING. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO VIEW MY MP4 VIDEOS IN WM11 AS THATS MY PREFERRED PLAYER! :-(
alan
July 23rd, 2009
at 4:31pm
Curiously, I’ve recorded some mp4 videos on my WM 10 Windows Mobile HTC TOUCH Pro Cellphone. The phone plays them, Windows Media 11 under XP Pro doesn’t! A curious state of affairs, yes? It appears the various developers at MS don’t bother to talk with each other. It costs more, but an Apple MAC may be the final solution!!!