WMV on OSX: How to Play WMV on Mac OS X ?

Is it possible to play WMV on Mac OS X? The answer is YES. Although WMV (Windows Media Video) files are developed by Microsoft and popular in Windows platform, you could play WMV on Mac without any fuss. This guide will show you multiple ways to play WMV on Mac OSX platform. The most common choices for playing WMV video files on a Mac OS X are: Flip4Mac, Video Converter for Mac and VLC Media Player.

WMV on OSX 1: Flip4Mac Plugin for QuickTime Player

WMV on OSX 2: WMV Video Converter for Mac

WMV on OSX 3: All-in-one VLC Media Player on Mac

Playing WMV on Mac 1: Flip4Mac Plugin for QuickTime

Flip4Mac, the "Windows Media Components for QuickTime" allows free transparent playback of the most common WMV and WMA formats on inside QuickTime applications. Flip4Mac is known for the only QuickTime component to play WMV on Mac OS X that supports both WMV and WMA formats.

The good: 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.

The bad: It cannot play WMV video that uses Windows Media digital rights management, so some videos may not be viewable even though you've installed Flip4Mac.

Making Settings: After download and install Flip4Mac plugin, open "Flip4Mac WMV" on System Preferences, Flip4Mac's advanced settings can be accessed from your Mac's System Preferences.

Playing WMV on Mac 2: Convert WMV to high quality video

Daniusoft Video Converter for Mac is one of the most versatile Mac WMV converter that simplifies the conversion process without compromising features or flexibility. It can also serve as a basic video editor, such as clip and crop video, merge into one, and add special effects to video.

After install and run this WMV Converter for Mac, open your WMV files into the software, then double click the video title in the source file list to play the video you select. You can also preview the WMV video files in full-screen. Moreover, if you want to convert WMV files to any other video format or media players you want, just select the friendly format for your devices, then click the blue button to start the conversion.

The good: Support convert audio, video between all popular formats and for any devices on Mac OS X, like AVI, WMV, MP4, MPEG, MOV, FLV, MKV, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, etc with smart editing function.

The bad: You need to pay for it.

Free download Daniusoft Video Converter for Mac

Note: If you are using Windows, you can refer to Video Converter Ultimate for Windows.

Playing WMV on Mac 3: Powerful WMV player - VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player is the most versatile player out there allows you to play WMV files as well without the Flip4Mac Plugin. And it can play pretty much every video and audio file format and run almost all platforms.

The good: It's lightweight, fast and can handle almost any media format.

The bad: It won't allow you to edit WMV in QuickTime supported applications such as iMovie and Final Cut.

After you download and install the software, right click your WMV file, and click "Play with VLC media player". If there is no "Play with VLC media player", click the "Open way", choose "VLC media player".

Conclusion on playing WMV on Mac

It's up to you to decide how to play WMV on Mac, either using QuickTime Player, VLC Video Player, or a Mac video converter. Using a Mac video converter will be a good choice since it gives you more options to convert and edit videos.

You could even burn WMV to DVD with a DVD Creator for Mac and watch with the DVD drive on Mac OS X.