Media Player

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This article is about the original Microsoft media player. For media players in general, see Media player. For the current Microsoft media player, see Windows Media Player.

Media Player

Media Player in Windows 95
Developer:	Microsoft
Latest release:	5.1 / August 6, 2004^{[citation needed]}
OS:	Microsoft Windows
Use:	Media player
License:	Proprietary EULA
Website:	Microsoft Windows Media — Your Digital Entertainment Resource

Media Player was a media player originally included in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions, and later in Windows 95 and Windows NT. As of Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), Media Player was rendered obsolete, Windows Media Player being the replacement. Media Player was still included in Windows XP; however, it is no longer included as of Windows Vista.

Media Player 5.2 was the last 16-bit version.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Features

Unlike its replacement, Media Player allows one to choose which MCI device to send the file to. Media Player can be used to embed music or video in a document, as it supports OLE.

[edit] Criticism

Media Player did not show video in its own window. Video would either be fullscreen or in a separate window, with the filename as the title. The only exception was when the video was viewed via OLE, in which case it is displayed within the application.

The version of Media Player included in Windows 3.x is compatible with most versions of Windows; however, it does not recognize certain recent file types.