It competes with RealPlayer and will later become part of Windows Media Player.

1996: Microsoft Releases NetShow Player, which steams video from the Internet.

1992 (November): Thanks to Video for Windows (an Apple QuickTime competitor), Media Player can play AVI video files for the first time.

It’s initially limited to playing animation files.

1990 (October 20): Media Player debuts as part of Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions.

Here are just a handful of notable events in the Media Player timeline. It’s even hard to exactly pinpoint when “Media Player” became “Windows Media Player” - perhaps around version 5.0. RELATED: Windows 3.0 Is 30 Years Old: Here's What Made It Special A Few Notable Moments in Windows Media Player Historyĭecoding the complete history of Windows Media Player is like navigating a maze full of conflicting and confusing version numbers, abandoned Microsoft technologies, and the slow aggregation of software bloat over time.

Over the years, Windows Media Player has appeared on many versions of Windows, the Mac, Windows CE and PocketPC devices, and even on Sun’s Solaris operating system. As Windows Media Player grew in complexity, it added support for visualizations, skinning, CD playback and ripping, DRM-protected audio and video (that could be sold through the Internet), and media library management support.

Windows media player 12 skins