Alternatives to the Quicktime Player for Vista

As a sensible aficionado of desktop and streaming media, you’ve no doubt encountered one of several drawbacks of using Apple QuickTime in Windows Vista. For one, it’s slow to launch. Secondly, its playlist support is so minimal it may as well be considered non-existent. At best it’s capable of playing a maximum of two files consecutively, and there is so much lag time involved in switching from the first video to the second, you may as well just launch the second video manually. Then, of course, there’s the annoyance of QuickTime’s persistent attempts to connect to the Internet, even if you’re viewing local files. Whatever the drawback may be, there’s generally no need to use the QuickTime player in Windows Vista, and superior alternatives are mere mouse clicks away.

Beginning with the idea that the alternative solution should inherently be more convenient than just biting the bullet and installing QuickTime, (otherwise, why bother?) there need not be an extensive discussion of video codecs or media converters. The various alternatives suggested here are equally effective; choosing one is a matter of personal preference.

If you’re looking for an alternative to QuickTime, try QuickTime Alternative! It actually can be as straightforward as that, as this software is smaller in size, lighter on system resources, and quicker to launch. QuickTime Alternative will enable you to view QuickTime media in your browser, and Media Player Classic, the media player bundled with the installation software, is all you’ll need in order to play MOV and QT files on your Vista desktop. Media Player Classic performs well, as it doesn’t contain any unnecessary gimmicks. It was made with functionality in mind; bells and whistles are not included.

If, however, you simply don’t want another media player installed on your system, you can instead download and install QT Lite. Other than leaving Media Player Classic out of the installation, QT Lite is identical to QuickTime Alternative. If you install QT Lite along with the K-Lite Codec Pack, you’ll be able to watch QuickTime movies in Windows Media Player.

If you'd prefer an option that is not only a QuickTime alternative for Vista but an all-purpose player that is both light and powerful, look no further than VLC Media Player. While it’s capable of playing QuickTime video, it can also play Windows Media (WMA and WMV files) as well as Adobe Flash and Real Player video files. In terms of format support, VLC Media Player is among the most comprehensive players available. In addition, it’s free and contains no adware.

With these options to choose from, you’ll no longer require Apple’s proprietary player for your Vista system.

As a brief note, just be sure to uninstall QuickTime prior to installing any of the software mentioned above.