VLC Media Player - VLC Player for Mac - A Solid Contender If you’ve been consuming content online for any length of time, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about VLC Player. This VLC player for Mac is one of the oldest and longest-standing apps around today. So you can imagine how popular this multimedia player is. Most of the time, when you want to play a.wmv video file with VLC media player, you just open it in VLC window and it plays. However, sometimes you may get an error message that says the file is not supported. Before you panic, there are a few things you can try on your own to fix it. Obtain the Correct Codec.
- Mar 25, 2021 VLC Media Player VLC is a popular cross-platform media player that can effortlessly handle WMV video. It is also capable of playing a wide range of other video and audio formats. The only drawback of VLC for Mac is that users may need to search, download, and install additional codec packages in order to allow VLC to open WMV files.
- Devices and Mac OS X version. VLC media player requires Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later. It runs on any Mac with a 64-bit Intel processor or an Apple Silicon chip. Previous devices are supported by older releases. Note that the first generation of Intel-based Macs equipped with Core Solo or Core Duo processors is no longer supported.
OS X doesn’t play Windows Media Video out of the box, but there are some quick downloads you can grab in order to watch WMV files on your Mac.
I recently made the switch from PC to Mac and everything is great, but one thing I am missing is Windows Media Video. Is there a way to play WMV on a Mac?
Yes it is possible to playback these types of files on a Mac. OS X doesn’t come with the software you need by default, but there quite a few downloads that can get the job done. A plug-in called “Flip4Mac” gives Quicktime the ability to play WMV files, VLC is a stand-alone cross-platform media player that can understand your Windows Media Video files, and if all else fails there is an old version of Windows Media Player for Mac OS X.
Contents
- Flip4Mac
- VLC media player
Flip4Mac
Windows Media Components for Quicktime go by the name Flip4Mac. This add-on will give Quicktime the capability to playback WMV videos. It’s distributed for free on Microsoft’s site:
Installation Instructions
- Download and open the Flip4Mac DMG file from Microsoft.
- Double-click the Flip4Mac WMV.mpkg file to launch the installation wizard.
- Click your way through the wizard’s screens, agreeing to the Terms of Service and choosing where to install. You will need to enter your administrator name & password at one point.
- The installer will let you know when it’s done, at which point you can hit the “Close” button.
- If Quicktime is open, quit the application then open it back up.
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You will now be able to watch WMV files in Quicktime. Make sure to eject the “Flip4Mac” installation volume — hit the “Eject” button next to its name in the Finder sidebar.
Embedded Video
Installing Flip4Mac also makes it possible to watch streaming WMV videos in your web browser. There is no extra configuration necessary in order to make this happen. Just quit your browser after installing the plug-in, the start it back up and revisit any site containing a video you wanted to watch. It should play without a hitch.
Flip4Mac & DRM
One caveat of Flip4Mac is that it cannot play WMV video that uses Windows Media digital rights management, so some videos may not be accessible even though you’ve installed Flip4Mac.
VLC media player
VLC is a stand-alone media player like Quicktime and Windows Media Player. Many people prefer VLC because it is available for many different operating systems and is an open source software project supported by many dedicated programmers across the world.
All versions of VLC support the various formats you’re used to opening in Windows Media Player: WMV (video), WMA (audio) and ASF. You can get VLC from the VLC media player for Mac OS X download page.
There are a few different options on this page:
- 32 & 64 bit releases for Intel Macs (what most people have now)
- The “32/64 bits Intel Mac” version should work on most computers.
- Macs from 2006 or newer are 64 bit.
- The “Power PC” version is for older Macs dating back to the time before Apple switched from Motorola to Intel chips.
- Web plugins for Intel and PowerPC Macs, for viewing Windows Media Video embedded in web pages.
- Older VLC releases for previous releases of Mac OS X.
Once the .DMG file is downloaded double-click on it, wait for a Finder window to open, and then drag the VLC icon to your “Applications” folder.
Make VLC the Default Media Player
If you like VLC enough to make it your default media player, follow these steps:
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- Right-click on any media file. If you don’t have a two-button mouse, hold the “control” key while clicking.
- Select Get Info.
- Expand the Open with: section.
- Choose VLC from the drop down menu.
- Click Change All…
Window Media Player for Mac
There used to be a version of Windows Media Player for Mac OS X, but it’s outdated and no longer available. Flip4Mac and VLC are much better options than this, so it should only be a last resort. Plus, it isn’t known to play well with recent versions of OS X.