Apple’s Mac operating system and Microsoft’s Windows operating system are two of the widely used in computers. The two companies have proven to be highly competitive for each other. As a result, there has been identical software throughout the years. QuickTime and Windows Media Player are two such multimedia frameworks.
QuickTime vs Windows Media Player
The main difference between Windows Media Player and QuickTime is that Windows Media Player was developed by Microsoft for its own Windows operating system whereas QuickTime was developed by Apple for its own Mac OS.
QuickTime is a media player and multimedia framework that was developed by Apple in 1991 when multimedia in operating systems were introduced. It is used to handle videos, pictures, and audio files, etc., in Apple’s own Mac operating system. QuickTime’s supported file formats include Apple’s specified .mov, and .qt.
Windows Media Player is a media player and library that was developed by Microsoft in 1991 when Windows 3.0 with multimedia extensions. It is used for accessing audio, videos, and pictures, etc., on Microsoft’s own Windows operating system. Windows Media Player’s supported file formats include .asf, .wma, .wmv, etc.
Comparison Table Between QuickTime and Windows Media Player
| Parameters of Comparison | QuickTime | Windows Media Player |
| Developers | It was developed by Apple. | It was developed by Microsoft. |
| Compatibility | It is compatible with Mac OS. | It is compatible with Windows OS. |
| File Format | It supports a few formats such as .mov, and .qt. | It supports almost all file formats. |
| Optimization | It is highly optimized. | It has a few bugs and crashes. |
| Unique Features | Recording, editing capabilities, etc. | Playback music, Visualizations, etc. |
What is QuickTime?
QuickTime is a media player and multimedia framework that was developed by Apple in 1991 when multimedia in operating systems were introduced. It is used to handle videos, pictures, and audio files, etc., in Apple’s own Mac operating system. QuickTime’s supported file formats include Apple’s specified .mov, and .qt.
Apple provides excellent features and support for QuickTime. It has an abundance of features including synchronized graphics, time-based synchronization, create recordings, alternate languages, and subtitles, etc. QuickTime is critically acclaimed for its stability and optimization. However, Apple has various limitations to keep the ecosystem secure. Unlike in Windows Media Players, Users of QuickTime are bound to what is provided by Apple only. Third-party plug-ins, customizations, and .srt subtitles, etc, simply do not work.
Quicktime was also made available to Windows operating system since 1994. However, it was discontinued in 2016 to protect the Apple ecosystem and reduce the risk of vulnerabilities. QuickTime 7.7.9 was the last Windows release of QuickTime. As of now, Apple provides QuickTime X, which is the latest version of QuickTime. The older versions of QuickTime were not updated by Apple for the newer software, and hence, are not compatible anymore.
What is Windows Media Player?
Windows Media Player is a media player and library that was developed by Microsoft in 1991 when Windows 3.0 with multimedia extensions. It is used for accessing audio, videos, and pictures, etc., on Microsoft’s own Windows operating system. Windows Media Player’s supported file formats include .asf, .wma, .wmv, etc.
It comes with an abundance of useful features such as playback music, library, visualizations, portable device sync, disk burning, and online music stores, etc. It has always been critically acclaimed as it offered far better features than the competition. Nevertheless, Windows Media Player had several drawbacks. The media player offers limited sound quality choices, interruptions in slow DSL connections, small album cover art, etc.
Windows Media Player was also made available to Apple’s Mac OS X. However, it was discontinued in 2009 due to the lack of features that Apple’s QuickTime offered. Windows Media Player 12 was the latest version and it was released along with Windows 7 in 2009. Earlier versions of Windows Media Player can run on older versions of Windows, and with the release of Windows 8, Microsoft replaced it with Groove Music. Hence, Windows Media Player is now only compatible with older versions of the operating system.
Main Differences Between QuickTime and Windows Media Player
- QuickTime is for Mac OS whereas Windows Media Player is for Windows OS.
- QuickTime is comparatively far more optimized as compared to Windows Media Player.
- QuickTime supports only limited file formats whereas Windows Media Player supports almost all the file formats.
- QuickTime is highly bound when it comes to additional features whereas Windows Media Player allows more freedom to its users.
- QuickTime has many editing capabilities whereas Windows Media Player doesn’t.
Conclusion
With the introduction of computers, many functionalities followed along. Establishing multimedia features is one of the key achievements in the world of operating systems. Since there has always been a professional rivalry between Apple’s and Microsoft’s operating systems, the two companies have created competitive software to provide the best-in-class multimedia experiences.
When we talk about QuickTime and Windows Media Player, both of them serve the same fundamental purpose. Accessing photos, audio, and videos, etc., are a few of the common functionalities. However, the two differ in features. QuickTime allows excellent features to its users but the whole system is bound to those features only as Apple highly prioritizes secured frameworks. It is highly optimized and stable.
On the other hand, Windows Media Player also provides good features but they are not bound by anything. In Windows, users have the freedom to use third-party add ons and software. Nonetheless, Windows Media Player was officially discontinued. Windows Media Player was replaced by Groove Music but it is still usable in the older versions of Windows.
Ever since Apple discontinued Windows Media Player, it is technically impossible to access it on Mac OS as it cannot be installed using external sources. On the other hand, users can install the older versions of QuickTime on Windows OS but the features would still be limited due to the lack of Apple’s support.
References
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/218380.218395