Uninstall QuickTime for Windows: Apple will not patch its security bugs

RIP QuickTime for Windows. Apple is "deprecating support" for the application, and will no longer patch security flaws in the software. The iGiant is also quietly advising users to uninstall the media player from their Windows machines to avoid being hacked. Word of the end of support comes from infosec biz Trend Micro. It …

[graeme leggett]

perhaps

The Apple software updater program on my computer will flag up this issue and advise me to uninstall QuickTime.

Oh, no. Wait. It won't because the updater is broken on my Windows 7 installation -broken when Apple's own software updated itself.

[tin 2]

Re: perhaps

Late comment I know but the ever helpful Apple software updater has just kicked in and recommended I install quicktime 7.7.9 because it "improves security".

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell yeah. QuickTime was the foshizzle before DivX ;-) came along.

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF!

People are still using Quicktime? In 2016?

NB Flushing away Apple Bonjour is also a good idea.

[Geoffrey W]

Re: WTF!

They probably have an old copy of Myst and are determined to finish that damn game before they die

[cosymart]

Re: WTF!

That explains two things: 1) why I needed Quick Time and 2) why I am having trouble getting out of this wooden box.

[Barry Rueger]

Re: WTF!

2016? I'm fairly sure I haven't used it since 2006!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WTF!

2016? I'm fairly sure I haven't used it since 2006!

I'm pretty sure I've not used it since I found VLC - even on a Mac - and that is *quite* some time ago :).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WTF!

My copies of VLC all have libquicktime_plugin.dll in their directories. Is that an Apple file? If someone reverse engineered the Apple functionality, did they mimic the fault as well?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WTF!

For the matter Lightroom 5 asks you to install QuickTime (for its video features), don't know about LR6.

[EddieD]

Re: WTF!

GoPro Studio (until I got rid of it) kept on saying that a lot of features wouldn't work unless I installed Quicktime.

I decided to live with the lack of features, and uninstalled the studio rather than install Quicktime. I don't think I've had it on my Windows machine for well over a decade.

[paulf]

Re: WTF!

@ LDS

"For the matter Lightroom 5 asks you to install QuickTime (for its video features), don't know about LR6."

One of Canon's photo tools on the Mac (Zoom Browser or Image Browser - the same package has a different name on Windows) demands fucking Silverlight to install and run properly.

When I pointed out Canon's shoddy approach to application development their response can be summarised as "¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WTF!

"One of Canon's photo tools on the Mac demands fucking Silverlight"

Fucking Silverlight? I wouldn't even kiss it.

[paulf]

Re: WTF!

@ Anonymous Coward

"Fucking Silverlight? I wouldn't even kiss it."

See icon!

[Tim Jenkins]

Re: WTF!

Bonjour is a requirement for using networked FileMaker* (also an Apple product, though not really marketed as being so).

*I know; the answer would be not to use FileMaker, and I wish I didn't have to...

[Robert Helpmann??]

Re: WTF!

Apple drops support for one of their products on a rival platform? Next you will be telling me that they discontinued support for Safari on Windows systems.

[Michael Hoffmann]

Trailers Site?

Stupid question: Apple's own movie trailers website (apple.com/trailers) demand QuickTime. What are they proposing for that? "Only access our trailers site through QuickTime on a Mac"?

That's one approach to marketing, I guess...

[Mage]

Re: Trailers Site?

Also you can only browse iBook Titles on an Apple thing. What if I was thinking of getting an ipad and wanted to know what's on offer?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Trailers Site?

...which reminds me, since El Capitan disabled iPhoto and moved everything into this horrible 'Photos' app (about the hardest search term to google support for!) - all of my movies imported from my camera now flag up as unplayable due to being an unsupported format. They previously played happily in Quicktime (when I was on Mountain Lion).

Apple have obviously undertaken a severe change of direction re codecs and media players - which has left its customer base lurching all over the place.

[Richard Parkin]

iPhoto still works with El Capitain

As subject

[Mpeler]

Re: Trailers Site?

Wow, now Apple is imitating Micro$haft...

Time for a beer (or ten), everyone (there's a tear in my beer)...

[framitzula]

I got rid of QuickTime and ITunes years ago, I have never missed either.

[hellwig]

Already Uninstalled

I uninstalled Quicktime when I upgraded from Windows ME to XP, about 15 years ago, but thanks for the heads up.

While we're on the subject, should I also uninstall Real Player?

[Mage]

Re: Real Player

Yes, or at least disable it in Browser.

Real Alternative

http://www.videohelp.com/software/Real-Alternative

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealPlayer#Real_Alternative

[Shane Lusby]

In other news, users should update their calendar to 2016 as 2002 is no longer supported.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is going to be one of the interesting points in the near future: Since so many devices come with CDs/DVDs/Downloads that still install quicktime it is going to povide a serious attack-vector into private and corporate fat-clients.

[Test Man]

I got my HP laptop with Windows 7 x64 back in 2012. I installed QuickTime and it decided to not play nicely with Windows' own file association manager so I removed it. Since then I have installed 8, 8.1 and 10. I haven't encountered one single piece of software or website that required QuickTime. Tell a lie, iTunes requires it for the movies. As I don't play movies on my laptop, it stays uninstalled.

QuickTime was dead to me way back.

[Teiwaz]

Slowtime

"back in 2012. I installed QuickTime and it decided to not play nicely with Windows' own file association manager so I removed it"

This was an issue at the turn of the century with quicktime. It and Realplayer would overwrite existing file associations for all media types. You may have installed it to play one filetype, but they assumed by default you'd want to use it for everything because they thought it was the bees knees.

I couldn't uninstall it fast enough back then, even with the amount of content on the net only viewable with them.

[Shannon Jacobs]

Re: Slowtime

Does that mean the Reg has been reimplemented as a Quicktime website? Gawdawful slow now, and actually reminding me of what I thought was the worst performing website (HBO's), which I'm pretty sure is implemented in Flash. Substance last, eh?

Punchline is that this is probably my first visit to the Reg in about a year (off of a /. link), though I used to visit the Reg on a daily basis. Is that mindless troll still denying climate change between his diaper changes? Or has he finally noticed the record temperatures each year? Naw, he probably has another idiotic article around here explaining why today's latest news from Greenland doesn't mean shite.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Slowtime

Punchline is that this is probably my first visit to the Reg in about a year (off of a /. link) (whinge whinge)

Well, cu next year then. I think that's in about 100 DevOps articles.

/walks away cackling

[John F***ing Stepp]

Re: Slowtime

Some of the best sarcastic wit I have seen on your side of the atlantic pot hole and you call him a troll; the man plays the perfect dumbass better than Steve Colbert, have some respect.

[Havin_it]

Re: Slowtime

>It and Realplayer would overwrite existing file associations for all media types.

You sure about that? ISTR that a screen on the installer (or possibly on first-run) let me choose the associations. The defaults may as you suggest have been all in QT's favour, but I'm sure there was a "No to all" option, whereafter I could re-enable only the file-types (.mov) I actually needed it for.

Was it all a dream? /wibblylines

[The Alphabet]

"Apple does not respond to The Register's requests for comment."

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just because they answer with a QuickTime video and El Reg can't play them...

[MD Rackham]

Lots of broken apps in the future

There are a lot of video apps that rely on the QuickTime for Windows SDK to support common video formats (e.g., ProRes). If you uninstall all of QuickTime best case is the apps lose some functionality. Worst (and most common) case is that the apps will refuse to launch for lack of the DLL.

I suspect a bunch of high-end video cameras who are launching ProRes support at NAB next week will be thrilled to discover that there is no way to access their video files on Windows. No doubt Apple will be very forgiving about that ProRes license fee (ha!).

What Apple should be advising is removing the QuickTime Player app and the browser plug-in. No loss there.

[Jos V]

Re: Lots of broken apps in the future

MD Rackman, VLC player supports prores. iTunes, realplayer, Quicktime? Haven't let any of those come near my computers in over a decade.

From the VideoLAN website:

VLC 2.0:

Support for ProRes 422 and 4444, AVC/Intra.

Support for Jpeg-2000, Dirac and DNxHD/VC-3 in 10bits.

Support for EBU subtitles (stl) and EIA-608.

SDI and HD-SDI card support for input on Linux.

New Dirac/VC-2 encoder, faster than the previous one

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Lots of broken apps in the future

It's not a matter of video players, it's some video processing/management application relies on QuickTIme to access some video formats. QuickTime does offer an SDK many applications, especially those supported on both OSX and Windows (see some Adobe one), use. And you can't replace that support simply installing VideoLAn or any other player - applications needs to be rewritten to use some other video library.

That's why the news Apple is not going to support QuickTime on Windows anymore without officially announcing its EoL in advance may be a nasty surprise.

[decoherence]

Some Adobe CC applications still make use of QuickTime. What do they have to say about this?

[x 7]

The Edius video editing suite depends on Quicktime as its default HD playback medium.

A lot of people using it are going to be very pissed off

[kain preacher]

Apple has never been happy supporting their software on windows. Safari any one ?

[Grease Monkey]

But if you ask any fanboi they will tell you that all iProducts are 100% secure.

[Efros]

I know not of what you speak

Quick what now?

[Stevie]

Bah!

Oh well.

You Don't suppose this is another one of Apples retarded, doomed-from-the-get-go strategies to persuade people to switch to the Mac do you?

We are talking here about the company that once got famous people to say on air that installing a printer on a Windows computer required removing the case. In 1996.

[Hans 1]

Re: Bah!

you did, in some cases, as you needed to install more RAM for the printer driver.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bah!

Of course, if you had to add an AppleTalk card...

[LaeMing]

@ProprietaryFormatProblems

[markusgarvey]

The jokes on them, I never install the buggy crapware.

[Anonymous Coward]

Remove quicktime?

The pleasure is all mine.

[Privatelyjeff]

Probably being replaced

What's probably really happening is that apple is no longer supporting the current version, as a new one will be launched with the next iTunes major release.

[chivo243]

Quicktime?

I don't even use it on my mac. VLC all the way any day!

[Elmer Phud]

You may scoff . . .

. . . but I see it being used in schools.

Maybe the Reg readers forget that yer average public run with what they are forced/encouraged to use forom day one.

Teachers at a local school are fed up with me saying 'what the fuck are you using that shit for? "it's what comes up when I click on . . ."

(and they blame QT when they are trying to stream stuff off the creaky server and look embarassed when it falters - they still use MS Media Player too, and can't turn off it;s crappy visualisation)

[jason 7]

Apple just isnt serious...

....about any computing other than iPhone and Tablet.

[Fihart]

unwanted spawn of demonic iTunes

As I recall, QuickTime is normally installed when the hated iTunes is downloaded.

I can't bring myself to look any more than is necessary at the computer I quarantine iTunes on.

But any other reluctant users might want to check.

[Test Man]

Re: unwanted spawn of demonic iTunes

Nah it hasn't done that in years now - it was dropped from the installer.

[Mage]

QuickTime and iTunes

Removed both* these pests long ago.

Shame on Apple they don't implement proper USB mass storage for their devices.

[*I'm not partisan, I removed Silverlight and replaced Realplayer with "real Alternative"]

I have bare minimum of stuff that is allowed to run in a browser. I use NoScript, Java is off and Flash is set to prompt, never auto run. Anything else has to be downloaded.

[Unicornpiss]

Whenever I notice Quicktime on a PC...

I always get disgusted, like when I'm following someone with a particularly annoying bumper sticker. I've always despised that app. Nice to know even its publisher is giving it the heave ho.

[Anonymous Coward]

Australia FAIL

Please note uninstalling QuickTime will break your logos on invoices in MYOB. Yes QuickTime. For Pommies MYOB "mind your own business" is (was) the dominant SMB accounting software in 'sraya.

I think it might be something to do with GIF resizing.

I'm pretty sure about this, but MYOB tends to make my subconscious kick in to prevent trauma. *shivers*

The obvious fix is to uninstall MYOB. Please I get flashbacks just thinking about it.

(One day I may wish to apply for a job - hence the Noel)

[oceanhippie]

The Nineties Called.

They say they want QuickTime back.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ironic. Don't you think? It's like....

Did the Nineties also say that they wanted their "The [decade] called. They say they want [something] back" meme back?

[Aodhhan]

The big reason Apple gets upset about the Government's demanding something of it, is because they believe they should be setting the demands on everyone all the time.

Everyone must use Apple products so we can control you.

Apple has a shot at controlling the world as long as there are people who will pay twice as much for Apple products and get half the features, security, functionality and performance.

[AegisPrime]

Hmm...

Windows applications I use daily that rely on QuickTime:

DaVinci Resolve

The Foundry Nuke

Blackmagic Fusion

LightWave 3D

Modo

TMPGEnc Authoring Works

TVPaint

Sony Vegas Pro

Lightworks

Red Giant PluralEyes

FilmConvert

If it's a pro-video application, chances are it needs QuickTime (especially since ProRes is ubiquitous in the industry) - time for them to switch to ffmpeg methinks (and to tell Apple to fuck off when they threaten to sue because ProRes is proprietary).

[MD Rackham]

Re: Hmm...

"and to tell Apple to fuck off when they threaten to sue because ProRes is proprietary"

You first. Let me know how your legal battle goes, and how your lawyers like their Veyrons.

And ffmpeg doesn't allow for retrieving random frames from GOP encoded codecs, making it useless for most video apps. (And the fork that does (slowly) provide for that is GPL (not LGPL) which rules it out for commercial software.)

[Bill7718]

Re: Hmm...

Exactly. The people here laughing at people still using the QuickTime PLAYER are entirely justified. Unfortunately, most professional video editing and FX software on the Windows platform depends on the QuickTime CODECS and SDK in one way or another. Unfortunately, you have to install the player to install the codecs.

However, I would think if someone came up with a set of steps or a script to manually remove the player files and all of the various registry hooks that allow *.mov files to be opened by web pages, and possibly those which allow the codecs to be used by other things like Windows Media Player, then you would be reasonably safe unless you actually opened a maliciously encoded MOV file inside your video editing or related software, which would be unlikely. Maybe someone will come up with such a hack to work around this issue until the various software vendors have a chance to replace their QuickTime dependencies with some alternative.

[hi_robb]

Oh dear...

I better get it uninstalled quicktime.......

[jelabarre59]

whyTunes

The only reason I ever installed whyTunes was because I got a $50 gift card for it. After 16 months, I *still* have a little over $4.00 credit on it. Goes to show how much useful product iTunes has. (and I had to install it inside a MSWin7 test VM, since it doesn't run under Wine or Crossover Office).

But have to uninstall QuickTime for MSWin???? Gee, all your Future Vision Multimedia CDs are gonna stop working...

[Dr.Flay]

Apple have always forced the exclusive use of their slow codecs for use with all other Apple products.

They will have to finally allow iTunes etc. access to the better codecs you probably already have installed.

Maybe finally it will allow iTunes to play some useful modern formats without needing to convert first.

For those of you stuck with a crippled iTunes on Windows, I suggest you upgrade to Winamp (available from the Winamp forums) which has always supported iPods and IPhones.

The only all-in-one Codec worth installing is FFDShow (the base of VLC and Media Player Classic decoding).

It supports many Quicktime formats (and also Realplayer) and new builds are always available from www.free-codecs.com

[jingdongsh]

You can use iDealshare VideoGo to convert MOV to Windows Media Player more supported WMV, AVI, ASF for playing MOV on all versions of Windows Media Player.

[razorfishsl]

You cannot if you use "filemaker" on windows, another of Apples completely gash products.

Bug ridden and 8-12 moth bug fix cycle.... no not quicktime- filemaker