Difference Between Quicktime and Windows Media Player

Quicktime vs Windows Media Player

Media players have become a big part of almost any operating system. Apple has developed QuickTime for its Mac operating system while Windows have the Windows Media Player. But despite being made specifically for their own operating systems, both companies have versions for the other. You can download these packages at their respective sites though versions available for the competing OS often lag behind and incompatibilities do appear here and there.

Both players support the wide variety of codecs that are available but they also have their own codecs that they have developed specifically for their players. QuickTime has the .mov extension while WMP has the WMV and WMA (Windows Media Video/Audio) formats. These formats are what the players initially support aside from the more popular codecs, other codecs needed to be installed before media using those codecs can be played. These players also default to their codecs when ripping music files from CDs.

Windows Media Player was developed to be a media player only, though there are added features like CD ripping and tagging. Windows did not design WMP to edit videos because it provides another software for that. QuickTime comes in two packages, a free edition and a Pro edition that sells for $29.95. The free edition has similar features to WMP and is already preloaded to all the latest Mac computers for sale while the Pro edition lets you edit files, convert to other codecs, and convert the videos to be compatible with other devices like the iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV.

Summary:
1. Quicktime is the movie player that comes with the Mac operating system while Microsoft created the Windows Media Player for its Windows operating system
2. Despite being meant for their own operating systems, you can get Quicktime for Windows or WMP for Mac
3. Quicktime has its own extension called .mov while WMP has WMV and WMA
4. Windows Media Player does not have editing capabilities while QuickTime has this in its Pro package for a price

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