Mac OS: How to watch Windows Media .WMV and listen to .WMA files

With freeware Windows Media Components for QuickTime, by Flip4Mac (Mac OS X), you can play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in QuickTime Player and view Windows Media content on the Internet using a Web browser.

Windows Media Components for QuickTime (Mac OS X) has been optimized for Power Mac G4 and G5 and Intel computers and supports playback of high-definition Windows Media video files.

Windows Media playback is provided free of charge.

By purchasing

• Flip4Mac WMV Player Pro,
• Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro HD,
• Flip4Mac WMV Studio,
• Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro

from Flip4Mac, you can import Windows Media files for editing and create Windows Media files for distribution.

Please note that Flip4Mac doesn't support content that is protected with Windows Media digital rights management (DRM).

System Requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later
• QuickTime version 7.0 or later (7.1.6 or higher recommended)

Playback Features of Windows Media Components for QuickTime (Mac OS X)

Supported Audio Codecs

• Windows Media Audio 9
• Windows Media Audio 9 Professional
• Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless
• ISO MPEG Layer 3 (MP3)
• Microsoft G.726
• Microsoft IMA ADPCM
• Microsoft G.711 aLaw
• Microsoft G.711 uLaw
• Microsoft ADPCM

Supported Video Codecs

• Windows Media Video 9
• Windows Media Video 9 Advanced (VC-1)
• Windows Media Video 8
• Windows Media Video 7
• ISO MPEG-4, versions 1.0 and 1.1
• Microsoft MPEG-4, versions 2 and 3
• Microsoft Motion JPEGa

Supported File Formats

• Advanced Systems Format (ASF)
• Advanced Stream Redirector (ASX)
• Audio Video Interleaved (AVI)

Supported Network Protocols

• MMS Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)
• MMS HTTP
• HTTP
• FTP

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to post my question but here it goes... In what folder should the file Flip4Mac WMV Advanced component and the Flip4Mac WMV Import component be stored? Right now it is stored in my applications folder. Thank you!

Currently I recommend to use freeware VLC player and MPlayer for Windows Media files and streams on a Mac, Linux and Windows.

Both VLC and MPlayer can be used as streaming video recorders, because they allow to save (dump) Windows Media streams to hd.