QuickTime creation for Windows

Apple Computer (AAPL) finally released the oft-delayed update for its QuickTime multimedia software, which allows QuickTime multimedia content creation on Windows computers for the first time.

Originally scheduled for release in the second quarter of 1997, Apple delayed the official release of QuickTime 3 as it added a number of new features requested by software developers. The program has been in beta for some time.

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Previous versions of Apple's QuickTime on the Windows platform only allowed playback of QuickTime files; this new capability could make QuickTime even more popular among software developers.

"[Developers] can keep the same work without having to write special versions of programs. We're working on a tool for high-end video production that will be available [on Windows and Mac systems], so QuickTime will allow us to do that," said Mark Murphy, director of software development for Tyrell Software Corporation.

QuickTime 3 includes an Internet plug-in and two applications for viewing content, called MoviePlayer and PictureViewer.

QuickTime 3 Pro, intended for use by content developers, is mainly differentiated by new authoring features for Windows and Macintosh users such as the ability to play videos on an entire screen, the ability to cut and paste digital video and audio clips, and tools that ready content for Webcasting. Unlike Quicktime, it is not freeware.

The release of QuickTime 3.0 comes the week after Apple extended QuickTime to the Java programming language. Although QuickTime for Java is not rewritten in the Java language itself, Apple claims that it will make it easier to develop multimedia content for Java programs because the QuickTime code won't tax system performance.

Apple said that QuickTime 3 is available for download at a special Web site. The advanced, or Pro, version is available for $29.99. Apple says localized language versions of QuickTime 3 will be available in spring 1998.