Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Adobe Launches Media Player 1.0 for Mac and PC
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm split on this:
It's quite polished and some of the animations are pretty cool.
For new users having what is basically a web interface in an application is quite a good idea, as most people know how to use the web.
For me I didn't find it that useable, one too many clicks to do things and I found it a bit cluttered. It reminds me a bit of the Zune software. Maybe this is where application development is going outside the Mac? I don't know. It does get better with time.
It doesn't feel very Mac like, no command + comma (,) for preferences, no keybaord shortcuts (or traditional menus), no accessibility features. Some of the UI bits are pretty cool, others need a bit of work.
This is a direct shot across the bows of iTunes video content. Interesting.
Oh and it is a case of fans, fans, fans for Laptop users!
80-90% CPU when playing, 30-40% when idle.
I believe this may be how the BBC will deliver cross platform iPlayer downloads.
As Arn says, this is very much 1.0. Given chance to grow it could be pretty decent. Apple will certainly be watching on.
It's quite polished and some of the animations are pretty cool.
For new users having what is basically a web interface in an application is quite a good idea, as most people know how to use the web.
For me I didn't find it that useable, one too many clicks to do things and I found it a bit cluttered. It reminds me a bit of the Zune software. Maybe this is where application development is going outside the Mac? I don't know. It does get better with time.
It doesn't feel very Mac like, no command + comma (,) for preferences, no keybaord shortcuts (or traditional menus), no accessibility features. Some of the UI bits are pretty cool, others need a bit of work.
This is a direct shot across the bows of iTunes video content. Interesting.
Oh and it is a case of fans, fans, fans for Laptop users!
80-90% CPU when playing, 30-40% when idle.
I believe this may be how the BBC will deliver cross platform iPlayer downloads.
As Arn says, this is very much 1.0. Given chance to grow it could be pretty decent. Apple will certainly be watching on.
Hmm... Don't know, may have to try it. However I like Itunes for the way I can sort my music and have 1000's of songs just keep playing (plus, pop in a retail CD and it downloads the track names and artist automatically - no typing). I also like VLC Player, as that plays just about every format out there (WMV, AVI, ASF, Quicktime, ogg, mp1, mp2, mp3, mpg, flv, wav, VOB, m4u, gee I can't think of any more - when ever I have something that won't play, I just fire up VLC and whammo it works). It has become my main player, it also has capabilities to capture video from the internet (although I have not had a need to do that yet - too busy making my own videos for personal and church use).
and the best part about VLC player, unlike MS's Media Player (which is actually made by a third party company) is I don't have to worry about if I have the right video codecs down loaded, as on a Windows platform Microsoft took away all the codecs - hence only audio plays on video files (no picture) until you find a third party to download codecs from.
Either way competition is good - I just hope that it does not become like every over adobe app (starts off low cost, then jumps a couple of hundred to $1000 shortly). When I switch from Windows to mac later this month, I am not sure if I can afford to buy adobe products for the mac platform - may have to run parallels and keep some of my old software, or find an alternative.
and the best part about VLC player, unlike MS's Media Player (which is actually made by a third party company) is I don't have to worry about if I have the right video codecs down loaded, as on a Windows platform Microsoft took away all the codecs - hence only audio plays on video files (no picture) until you find a third party to download codecs from.
Either way competition is good - I just hope that it does not become like every over adobe app (starts off low cost, then jumps a couple of hundred to $1000 shortly). When I switch from Windows to mac later this month, I am not sure if I can afford to buy adobe products for the mac platform - may have to run parallels and keep some of my old software, or find an alternative.
I'll agree that you lose some quality with flash - but being someone who publishes alot for the internet - flash is very viable and used most. I do think all the companies that are capitalizing on FLV content rendering really need to step up and make the quality a little better. But at the same token, better quality usually results in larger file sizes - which can be a draw back.
Does the installer ask for an Admin password?
If it does, I'm not trying it
Generally speaking, I'll only install demo stuff
in a guest account. If I don't like it, I log out
and *boom*, it's gone.
I don't want my system clogged up with remnants
of tried and discarded software. That's so very
Windows.
If your worried about your big screen LCD Tv, here is an idea....
Most LCD TV's double as a PC monitor (ie they have a VGA port on the back), or atleast the newer ones that I have seen at Wal-Mart do. Get yourself a wireless mouse, a DVI to VGA converter cable and a VGA extension cable. Use your apple remote or wireless mouse and bingo - you can now watch it on your LCD TV. Also for older TV's that do not have a VGA port - I remember seeing a VGA to RCA converter cable on the internet.
*Edit -
Here is one link to a website with a converter cable:
http://www.cablesnmor.com/vga-rca-cable.html
Partially agree.
Adobe is starting years after the competition started and thus Adobe should know more about the customer needs, experience and market than the competition had in the beginning. So, they could start out with a product that should be on par or at least close to current products.
New cars are nowadays also not being designed by first thinking about what shape a wheel should have...
I keep getting an error message when I try to install it
Installed on my old iBook G4 without problems and now on Mac Pro. I am amazed that I can watch the last CSI Miami show that I missed for free! Apple TV, which I love, wants $1.99 for me to watch. So I assume Adobe are going to force Apple to at least offer an alternative, advertising paid for, experience. I am happy to watch a 30 second commercial and save $1.99!
On my 30" Cinema display it looks terrible full screen but fine small.
Does the installer ask for an Admin password?
If it does, I'm not trying it
Generally speaking, I'll only install demo stuff
in a guest account. If I don't like it, I log out
and *boom*, it's gone.
I don't want my system clogged up with remnants
of tried and discarded software. That's so very
Windows.
thanks for sharing that. I am in the process of buying my first mac (just waiting for the funds to hit my checking account so that I can order it from MACMALL - they have super deals on the one I want). Anyway - I am glad you mentioned the guest account thing - on my dell, because I am always looking for low-cost software for people at church, I have cluttered it up with things I downloaded and then later uninstalled because I did not like it or the evaluation period ran out. Kowing this I can setup a guest account and not have to worry about cluttering up my Mac with stuff I really do not want on the computer anymore - cool I am liking Mac more everyday and I don't even have my hands on one yet.......
That's the problem with every "media player" I have tried. If the original video is rendered at low quality or smaller screen size - blowing it up to full screen makes it grainy or you can see the square pixels. the problem may be the original video rendering, not the player itself. Ie, for the videos I make - if I render it in super high quality MPG (usually runs a few hundred meg to 1 gig) - full screen looks fine, but the files are a way to large to put on the internet or share with others via email.
NetFlix free player would be nice in OSX
With my MBAir - first MAC in a long long time - I have to bootcamp into WIN to run NetFlix free media player selections...
Wish I could just stay in MAC enviro - i guess that is all DRM stuff - to me just a pain in the petooty
watched a free fox show last night on their site (hells kitchen, gramsay reminds me of my uncle) and instinctively booted into win just cause i knew it would work... each impediment to OSX ain't a good thing
MBAir is best win notebook i have ever used tho
With my MBAir - first MAC in a long long time - I have to bootcamp into WIN to run NetFlix free media player selections...
Wish I could just stay in MAC enviro - i guess that is all DRM stuff - to me just a pain in the petooty
watched a free fox show last night on their site (hells kitchen, gramsay reminds me of my uncle) and instinctively booted into win just cause i knew it would work... each impediment to OSX ain't a good thing
MBAir is best win notebook i have ever used tho
iTunes HD content looks fabulous on a 50" screen let alone a 30" so not every media player experience is bad, and as you say, it is content quality that matters, the players can only serve up what they are given. Perhaps Adobe will include higher definition down the road ... or perhaps they have and I have not found it yet.
I just wonder if this might nudge Apple to offer a duel choice, free with ads and paid for without or simply all free with ads. Interesting times for sure ...
Apple should have seen this coming...
I still think that Digital Rights Management is a horrible idea. It's not like we are all pirates and we are going to exploit Apple poorly. I also think that it is totally dumb to have iTunes linked to the iPod alone. It really does not help if you buy another MP3 player, since I know some people, especially a lot of people in Japan, do not prefer the iPod.
Apple should have known that if they were chaining all of their digital downloads strictly to an iTunes system, there would most likely be a backlash. With all of these other services coming up in the works, it looks like iTunes may no longer be the king of download services. Apple cannot sell the iPod and/or iTunes downloads based on popularity alone and therefore need to change their strategy quite a bit.
I still think that Digital Rights Management is a horrible idea. It's not like we are all pirates and we are going to exploit Apple poorly. I also think that it is totally dumb to have iTunes linked to the iPod alone. It really does not help if you buy another MP3 player, since I know some people, especially a lot of people in Japan, do not prefer the iPod.
Apple should have known that if they were chaining all of their digital downloads strictly to an iTunes system, there would most likely be a backlash. With all of these other services coming up in the works, it looks like iTunes may no longer be the king of download services. Apple cannot sell the iPod and/or iTunes downloads based on popularity alone and therefore need to change their strategy quite a bit.
So my first impression is?:
It's not bad. But nothing more than a distraction at work or occasionally at home. I want to download content and be able to play it on my touch or appletv. Doesn't yet look like there is a way to do this? Or am i missing something?
It's not bad. But nothing more than a distraction at work or occasionally at home. I want to download content and be able to play it on my touch or appletv. Doesn't yet look like there is a way to do this? Or am i missing something?
Off topic a bit ... I wish Apple TV could allow web browsing so i could watch CNN etc. ... Web TV would be useful with HD resolution ... anyone even heard of this being done any where any how?
OK... so answered my own question... Only stuff i wouldn't want to download is available for downloading... figures...
To be honest I think it looks rubbish.
AMEN!!!!
One up with you there!!
I think that it is always good to have options. It's what Mac owners have always asked for, to have more software options.
Misleading? It is the same line that Apple uses.
For most people in the world a PC runs Windows and a Mac runs OS X (many don't know even what OS X is).
And even tho what you say, that PC is not the same as Windows, is technically correct, for the great majority of people PC is a synonym of Windows.
Misleading? It is the same line that Apple uses.
For most people in the world a PC runs Windows and a Mac runs OS X (many don't know even what OS X is).
And even tho what you say, that PC is not the same as Windows, is technically correct, for the great majority of people PC is a synonym of Windows.