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Major Release

QuickTime 5 is the first major release of QuickTime since the introduction of QuickTime 4.1. As such, this release includes a number of new features and enhancements that affect end users, authors, and application developers.

Some new features of QuickTime 5 apply to all three groups. QuickTime 5 now supports new media formats, for example, including Flash 4, DLS and Sound Font 2 audio files, and MPEG-1 playback on both Macintosh and Windows computers, including real-time streaming of MPEG audio and video.

End users will notice several new features, starting with a new user interface for playing QuickTime movies, with new video and audio controls. QuickTime Music (MIDI) playback can now be enhanced using DLS or Sound Font 2 audio samples. Access to Shoutcast streams is now available. Additionally, new “skip” protection provides improved streaming playback.

Movie and Web authors will find a number of enhancements, notably in AppleScript and QuickTime VR support, DV video compressor enhancements, new HTML embed tags, SMIL enhancements, and improved performance and quality of synthesis for the QuickTime Music Synthesizer. The editing and authoring interface for QuickTime Pro has been improved, adding menus and key commands for formerly “hidden” features. In addition, authors now have the ability to create movies using new media types, such as Flash 4, or MPEG-1 for Windows.

Perhaps most exciting for authors, however, is the introduction of “media skins” in QuickTime 5. Now you can customize the appearance and behavior of a movie when played in QuickTime Player. A media skin allows you to control the size and shape of the Player window and controls, as well as the appearance, width, and shape of any frame.

Applications developers will find extended Java support, with QuickTime for Java now included in a complete install of QuickTime 5. There are also new API functions, including a whole new broadcaster API for sending streams using QuickTime client software on Macintosh computers (it’s not just for servers anymore).

Notably for authors and developers, QuickTime 5 introduces a new third-party update mechanism designed to provide a registry of QuickTime components on an Apple server, so that developers can include their components in user downloads and QuickTime software updates on an as-needed, just-in-time basis.

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