Comments on: The eternal struggle: Flash vs Windows Media

By: Lucy

Lucy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:13:49 +0000

Wow, thanks for the excellent information! xxx

By: bernhard Pfennigschmidt

bernhard Pfennigschmidt — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:20:19 +0000

Hi All

I believe by experience that the javascript/ browser interface ofthe wmp is giving it the edge.

I can use only wmp to produce a full screen with a button on the html page. I would be grateful if anyone knows of a similar mechanism for flash and could show it.

By: Scott Jex

Scott Jex — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:04:14 +0000

QT, WMV, VP6, H.264, etc. a lot of different codec’s out there with different advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully one can be open minded enough to use the codec that is best for the job. Why would a carpenter use a screw driver to do everything when he has a toolbox full of other useful tools? Who knows maybe in the future a codec will come out that will solve all are problems and that will be so efficient and usable that it will never be replaced. In the mean time I would suggest that no standard be set. We should just use the best tool for whatever the job requires.

By: spike56

spike56 — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 14:42:05 +0000

Thomas - thanks much, that was very helpful!

By: thomas

thomas — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:24:11 +0000

spike56, I am using Ubuntu Dapper Drake with mplayer and Firefox. Im guessing that ‘mms’ is not a registered protocol in your browser, if your using firefox you just have to follow these steps.

1- Open Firefox, type “about:config” (no quotes) in the address window, and click enter.
2- Right click on the window and choose , then from the pop-up menu that appears.
3- In the first pop-up box, enter: “network.protocol-handler.app.mms” (no quotes, and it might just be easier to cut ‘n paste this into the box).
4- In the next pop-up box enter the path to Kaffeine (e.g. “/usr/bin/kaffeine”).
5- Now, click in the main window again but choose
6- In the first pop-up box, enter: “network.protocol-handler.external.mms”
7- In the second pop-up select .

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.

~Thomas

By: spike56

spike56 — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:09:09 +0000

thomas - I’m using mplayer on suse 10, and while I can watch wmv files, I have to download them first. I haven’t been able to stream them. I have all the usual browsers you get with a linux distro - firefox, konqueror, etc., and I also have opera. How are you watching the streams? Thanks!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:07:29 +0000

“QT, despite Mac users unlimited love, will not be the standard”

Not true: QT is very robust and now that iTunes is installed on mac and Windows computer it can be considered a strong contender.

By: thomas

thomas — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:52:24 +0000

I am going to have to disagree with you Spike56, not only can windows media be played on a Mac it can also be played under linux. I watched the local news on my Linux machine this morning. The issue is that it is more difficult to play windows media under linux but those who really use linux as a primary OS can certainly figure out how to get it working. Some also say that they have issues playing wmv with the Firefox browser, these people are generally those who have fallen prey on the Firefox hype and just downloaded it because they thought that it was going to be cool. On a side note, last time I checked there isnt a flash player for 64bit linux distro’s, but one is coming im guessing. In regards to the comment on cell phone and other mobile devices, I believe that preferred format is .3gp not flv. Again, just my thoughts.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 02:16:40 +0000

Cross-platform wins, but not necessarily because it’s better for the server of the content. Flash wins because it is _one_ think I need to have supported on my PC platform.. It’s real pain to have to install a new player every time you find some media you want to see or hear. People want to click on “movie” or “audio file” or “cartoon” or whatever … they don’t really want to install software for it.

By: spike56

spike56 — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 17:38:35 +0000

At the end of the day, the winner will be the cross-platform solution, which is currently Flash. In the online world, cross-platform compatibility beats the competition every time. Windows Media can only be used on Windows, so you not only lose Linux and Mac users, the rapidly growing mobile media market is also unavailable. Many of those devices have Linux, Java, or other proprietary embedded operating systems.

Apple has a rapidly growing base of viewers with video downloads from iTunes, many of whom watch those videos on their iPods. Windows Media Player is non-existent in this market.

Windows Media provides a better experience on Windows, but unless they make it cross-platform (highly unlikely), it will eventually be a secondary player on the web. The quality of Flash will improve long before Windows Media goes cross-platform.

By: thomas

thomas — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 16:18:49 +0000

The format battle has been going strong for quite some time now. A while back when it was only flash7 vs. wmv9 the choice was pretty easy, wmv9 easily had the auido and video quality advantage while I would say compression was relatively the same. With the introduction of flash8, it showed much improved video quality and the audio was leaps and bounds better than the previous version. This puts wmv9 and flv8 much closer to each other so if audio, video and compression are comparable then what else is there to judge these codecs? Basically its comes down to browser compatability, compression time, DRM, and delivery options. Right now wmv9 is also winning that battle, the only area they fall short in is the browser compatability market. To be honest, Mac’s have been gaining popularity but still hold a small percentage of the market so when decieding what format to go with price may be the factor that leans you in one direction over another. If you use wmv9 you will loose a few percent of your possible viewers, remember that not all Mac / Linux users would watch your content. WMV9 will give you the ability to use DRM, and easy to use and setup streaming server, live capture, etc. Flash8 is great, implements easily and looks preety darn good but most sites deliver the content as “progressive download” because they do not want to spend another $10k on a Flash Streaming server. On the upside of flash8 they do offer better browser compatability. Just my thoughts…