does anyone know of a player for .asf files besides media player?

[jaysones]

We need one bad! This is a great oppurtunity for third-party programmers, though I think MS keeps .asf format pretty close to its chest.

MS just released Media Player for Macintosh, which plays .asf files. It's not a very good player, and pales before Quicktime, but here it is (be sure to get the whole URL):
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0...st.titledetail

if there isn't a player besides media player, than is there an application that will convert .asf files to something that can be played by quicktime?

[drewman]

Real Networks just licensed Microsoft's streaming technology.

I would look for .asf support in the next version of RealPlayer...

Also, cross-licensing agreements between Apple and Microsoft surely include this format. Come on Apple, include it in Quicktime for compatibility sake!

drewman

.asf, in a word, _sucks_, and is one more attempt at a proprietary format by Microsoft.
If you're desperate for an .asf viewer, well, consider buying a Windows box, rather than bleating "Aw c'mon, make my Mac like a Windows box!"

If you want a PC that operates just like Windows, why own a Mac? Sheesh...

[ppps]

ASF sucks? Not really. If you forget about the politics once, you get the best compression quality I've seen in a long way (and I work in that field) since they are the only ones so far to use MPEG4 and Wavelets. No good player out for Macs, though...

You work in the compression field? Then you're aware of the codecs and associated issues that affect quality--and how .asf compares to others players in the field.

You also must be aware of where .asf came from, and why Microsoft pushes it so hard--Mac, Windows, or whatever. Do you have any idea what Media Player is about?

It's not a politics thing at all--.asf (and Mother Microsoft) objectively suck.

I am pretty unhappy too seeing M$ once again pushing a proprietary technology and signing up content providers for exclusive use.

The best thing you can do about it is complain to content providers who release content in ASF exclusively. They're not stupid, if many people complain they'll address the problem and release their content in the most popular format: QuickTime.

If you can access the ASF content, what's your incentive to complain? ;p

Originally posted by MaczRuleZ:
I am pretty unhappy too seeing M$ once again pushing a proprietary technology and signing up content providers for exclusive use.

Well, you guys seem to be prejudiced to me. Microsoft's ASF (which they bought as VideoXtreme) does not suck. It is better than RealVideo in terms of quality, and unlike the RealServer, it doesn't crash. If you want to know why so many people use Windows Media, it's because it's free to do so, whereas with Real they have to buy the server.

Before all of you chime in with "Quicktime server is free", bear in mind that (1) Quicktime server is still new, so many have not adopted it yet, (2) until Quicktime 4.1, no one in the corporate world could watch streaming Quicktime, and (3) there is still no streaming Quicktime server for Windows boxes, so anyone running a Windows server is out of luck.

I do streaming media for CNN.com, and we stream Real, Windows Media, and Quicktime. Right now, Quicktime is BY FAR the most difficult format to automate.

Originally posted by Arkham:
I do streaming media for CNN.com, and we stream Real, Windows Media, and Quicktime. Right now, Quicktime is BY FAR the most difficult format to automate.

I am thinking of creating a site for QTSS issues for people who administer media.

Would there be enough interest from people like you to get this going?

regards:dlf

------------------
david faibish
CTO
intermedia development
613 232 7000 X2
[email protected]

But the most difficult to automate means what?

[memento]

This seems to have gotten off topic. Windows MEdia Player for the Mac cannot play all .asf files. There are some which need an additional codec from Microsoft, which is not available for the Mac. If I have a .asf file that I can't play (error message something like "data rate >500kbps...), then I load it up in VirtualPC and can watch it after the WMP in Win95 downloads the additional codec automatically. Then I use a Win95 program called "Virtual Dub" to convert it to AVI, which I can view in Quicktime. I don't just watch it in VPC because it's too choppy and too much of a pain to use VPC as opposed to QT in OS9.

[James_Rolevink]

Hello there,

What is the URL to this Virtual Dub thing?

I would like to do the same. The Mac version of Microsoft Media Player (beta version for one) does suck actually, and I will always have an ethical problem using anything by MS.

In fact, I must disagree with some of the postings above; there ALWAYS is a political dimension to using MS products, as the DoJ case has proved beyond doubt. Just as I would never buy a tiger skin rug because I know what it means, I try to avoid anything MS.

Cheers,

James

Originally posted by Arkham:
and (3) there is still no streaming Quicktime server for Windows boxes, so anyone running a Windows server is out of luck.
.

That's not true... there is at least one (I believe there are more) and it's free for up to 30 streams, and relatively inexpensive for unlimited. www.entera.com