Windows Media Player on iMac

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Windows Media Player on iMac

I just made the switch from Windows to iMac and I'm loving it! I visit a few websites that stream content - for example, I listen to Sirius Satellite Radio - over my computer but the sites' media players require that I install Windows Media Player. I haven't used WMP in ages since I use iTunes and QuickTime and I don't really want to install it on the iMac but I really do want to continue to get this content. Should I be concerned with installing WMP on the iMac? Or am I just being a new Mac snob by not wanting to sully my beautiful new Mac with that obscene Windows garbage? LOL Basically, if I install WMP on the computer, will it cause any problems? Thanks in advance for your help.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.2), iPhone, video iPod 40 GB

Posted on Mar 12, 2008 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

foxofinfinety

Level 1

36 points

Mar 12, 2008 10:01 AM in response to chief2224

there is a special OS X version of WMP so I don't think it will cause any trouble besides I ever had any complainants on my site (we recommend other to use it)
link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/mac/mp9/default.aspx

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Answer 2

Mar 12, 2008 12:43 PM in response to chief2224

Windows Media Player for Mac is old, outdated and was discontinued by Microsoft years ago...do not use it. MS dropped it in favor of the free Flip4Mac QuickTime plugin available from Flip4Mac.com

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Answer 3

Mar 13, 2008 1:39 AM in response to Templeton Peck

O yea right the download location is:
http://www.flip4mac.com/wmvdownload.htm?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=referral&utmcampaign=applewmv
but we did got some bad reviews for this (then again some people complain about everything)

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Answer 4

TopoTone

Level 4

1,331 points

Mar 13, 2008 9:51 AM in response to chief2224

The other posts are right on about WMP. Here's the list of things I found that make video viewing possible on a Mac:

Flip4Mac

VLC

Real Player

Perian

Adobe Flash

Streamclip

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Answer 5

Mar 20, 2008 3:38 AM in response to TopoTone

This is the first week of my first Mac, so hopefully this won't seem dumb. I've downloaded WMP and Lip4Mac. They're both in the Applications folder. But when I try and make either of these the default player for say an .avi file - the application itself is grayed out. I can open WMP, but I can't make anything play in it. I'm sure there must be something simple I'm missing, but I don't know what.

Thanks

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Answer 6

Mar 21, 2008 3:59 AM in response to niuredbird

you can't use them both it's WMP or Lip4Mac the two make to other malfunction

Message was edited by: foxofinfinety

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Answer 7

Mar 21, 2008 6:20 AM in response to chief2224

Speaking of Windows Media Player... I installed it last week on my mac because I thought I needed it for MLB.tv, but I ended up not needing it. However, every time I try to delete it, it won't let me. I drag it to the trash, and when I try to empty the trash, I get an error message saying "The operation cannot be completed because the item 'wmphelp.htm' is locked."
If I click continue, then it cycles through all the other files in the WMP folder until it gets back to the very beginning.

How do I delete this crap off my computer??

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Answer 8

TopoTone

Level 4

1,331 points

Mar 21, 2008 8:40 AM in response to BeachBumDeac

http://appzapper.com/
Not that it does you any good now, but WMP has long since been abandoned by Microsoft. F4M is the successor on the Mac side, but there are still some content providers that use unsupported codecs within a WMV, which results in stuff not playing back.

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Answer 9

Apr 19, 2008 8:57 AM in response to TopoTone

I tried using AppZapper, but all it did was move WMP to the trash, where I had the same issues in trying to delete it. Any other tips?

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Answer 10

Jun 10, 2008 9:30 AM in response to BeachBumDeac

Still trying to delete WMP for Mac...

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