Want Quicktime? Apple Forces You to Install iTunes to Get It [Archive]

View Full Version : Want Quicktime? Apple Forces You to Install iTunes to Get It

Jason Dunn

03-13-2009, 03:00 PM

<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1236912319.usr1.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" />Over the years Apple has slowly but surely encouraged the installation of their software in bundles. It used to be that you could find the installation of Quicktime itself quite easily; then Apple started to make the default install file for Quicktime include iTunes. They still offered Quicktime by itself if you looked hard enough on the download page, so it wasn't a big deal - until now. <MORE />Today I was setting up a new Dell computer today and installed a copy of <a href="http://www.photodex.com/products/proshowgold/" target="_blank">ProShow Gold 4.0</a> to do some benchmarking, and it required Quicktime in order to create MOV files. I jumped over to the <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/" target="_blank">Quicktime</a> page to download the latest version, and was confused when the only link I could find was the download for iTunes and Quicktime bundled together. I thought for sure I just simply couldn't find the link, but after searching Apple.com for a few minutes (using their search engine) I still came up empty. Frustrated, I figured I'd download the bundle and do a system restore after completing my benchmarks. Adding insult to injury, when I tried to install it, this is what popped up:<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1236902801.usr1.png" style="border: 0;" />The computer, like many new Windows Vista computers shipping today, came with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista to fully utilize the 6 GB of included RAM. I expected that when I clicked on No, the installer would open my Web browser and point me to the 64-bit version of the Quicktime installer. Guess what? <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/compatibility/Details.aspx?type=Software&p=QuickTime&v=Apple&uid=7&pf=0&pi=2&c=Photo & Video&sc=Other&os=64-bit&vd=all" target="_blank">There isn't one</a>. Microsoft has had a 64-bit version of their operating system on the market for nearly a decade now, and <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1426" target="_blank">Apple still hasn't released a 64-bit version of Quicktime</a>. Worse yet, even though there a version of iTunes out there for 64-bit systems <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1426" target="_blank">according to this Apple support document</a>, Apple's dysfunctional browser-based system detection won't deliver up the 64-bit version regardless of whether I use IE7 or Firefox. There's no way to manually select the download that you want - because Apple knows best, right?In the end I ended up turning to <a href="http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_player/" target="_blank">unofficial sources</a> to get the Quicktime installer, and it works just fine on Vista 64-bit. The average user would have given up after the first install didn't work - I can't fathom why, if Apple wants to shove iTunes down everyone's throats, they don't offer an installer that works for 64-bit computers. Many computers sold at retail today in the <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid##-1##-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000##0##11a~~cabcat0501000##0##29~~cabcat0501004##0##k~~nf118||344742&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&sp=+brand+skuid&usc=abcat0500000" target="_blank">$600 range</a> have 4 GB of RAM, and it's not uncommon to see machines in the <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid##-1##-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000##0##11a~~cabcat0501000##0##29~~cabcat0501004##0##k~~nf118||364742&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=+brand+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime:>1900-01-01" target="_blank">6 GB</a> and even <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid##-1##-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000##0##11a~~cabcat0501000##0##29~~cabcat0501004##0##k~~nf118||384742&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=+brand+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime:>1900-01-01" target="_blank">8 GB</a> - all for less than $710 USD. Don't they want people buying these computers buying iPods?UPDATE: Apple has <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" target="_blank">added back the Quicktime-only optio</a>n, so thankfully this is one problem that's solved (except for that 64-bit installer thing).

Stinger

03-13-2009, 03:11 PM

Darius Wey

03-13-2009, 06:34 PM

I thought for sure I just simply couldn't find the link, but after searching Apple.com for a few minutes (using their search engine) I still came up empty.

The standalone installer for Windows is still available at Apple.com. But I admit, it's well-hidden.

http://support.apple.com/downloads/QuickTime_7_6_for_Windows

Janak Parekh

03-13-2009, 06:51 PM

Jason Dunn

03-13-2009, 08:03 PM

The standalone installer for Windows is still available at Apple.com. But I admit, it's well-hidden.

http://support.apple.com/downloads/QuickTime_7_6_for_Windows

But guess what the URL is on the download link?

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Honestly, I don't think Apple offers the stand-alone installer ANYWHERE.

Jason Dunn

03-13-2009, 08:27 PM

I've always wanted the exact opposite - iTunes without QuickTime Player. You can uninstall QuickTime without uninstalling iTunes but you can't install just iTunes. And the QuickTime's default behaviour is to sit in your system tray, hogging resources. Very annoying!

Hmm. Does't iTunes need Quicktime to play back content though? Or you're saying that you have other Quicktime-compatible solutions (VLC, etc.) and you don't want to have Quicktime installed? I can see why Apple wants Quicktime to come with iTunes - it's a logical bundle from a content playback perspective.

I prefer to use VLC myself, so don't like to install Quicktime at all, but the VLC browser plug-in has never worked for me with MOV files, so I end up installing Quicktime anyway. Once you disable all it's irritating system tray + auto-update behaviour, it's just like any other player...but I agree it's irritating that you have to do that at all.

With iPod's near monopoly of the mp3 player market, how is this not anti-competitive in the same way that bundling WMP was with Windows?

An interesting point - if you assume that iTunes is installed on every computer out there for every iPod sold, that's a heck of a lot of computers - and Apple's using that mechanism to deliver their new browser, MobileMe, etc. Somehow I don't think that the EU will care so much about that, but you never know. :rolleyes: I don't like to see any company get taken to task for distributing their software, as long as there's user permission involved, whether that's Microsoft or Apple.

Macguy59

03-14-2009, 01:03 AM

It's still available as a stand alone download at CNET downloads

http://download.cnet.com/QuickTime/3000-2139_4-10002208.html

Lee Yuan Sheng

03-14-2009, 07:26 AM

*ahem*Quicktime Alternative*ahem*

doogald

03-14-2009, 12:38 PM

I don't like to see any company get taken to task for distributing their software, as long as there's user permission involved, whether that's Microsoft or Apple.

There is a ton of stink here, though. This isn't just a user permission issue - this prevents a user who wants QT without iTunes from getting it without installing iTunes and then removing the app (leaving who knows what little pieces behind) for no benefit to a user who has no use for iTunes. Apple provides a QT only distribution for Mac (though, of course, every Mac comes with iTunes installed, so perhaps that is why.) Many lazy users will just shrug and not bother removing iTunes.

Worse still was the practice of using the Apple Updater to distribute Safari to people who may not have wanted it at all, as a default install of the Apple Updater (which is a default install of iTunes/QT). User permission should also include a definitive opt-in for the install. Given the security vectors that browsers traditionally add to OSes, this was a pretty crappy and indefensible thing to do. (As I recall, Safari for Windows had security issues almost immediately when it was first released.) Removing the QT only install for Windows for no good reason just stinks.

As for QT being the video display engine for iTunes, is there really no way to write iTunes to use *any* application that plays video content in the application using a plug-in architecture?

Stinger

03-14-2009, 01:24 PM

Uninstalling QuickTime probably just uninstalls the player app. I'm sure the libraries are kept. However, this is exactly what I want. The player app sits in my system tray, hogging resources. You can change the settings so that it doesn't automatically start in the system tray but QuickTime resets this option every time you install an update. It's incredibly annoying.

Janak Parekh

03-14-2009, 03:18 PM

As for QT being the video display engine for iTunes, is there really no way to write iTunes to use *any* application that plays video content in the application using a plug-in architecture? I agree with the rest of your points, but this makes no sense. QuickTime is Apple's own multiplatform media playback framework. It is particularly designed to play the content Apple sells. Why would they use DirectX on Windows and QT on the Mac? That just makes porting harder.

Uninstalling QuickTime probably just uninstalls the player app. I'm sure the libraries are kept. However, this is exactly what I want. The player app sits in my system tray, hogging resources. You can change the settings so that it doesn't automatically start in the system tray but QuickTime resets this option every time you install an update. It's incredibly annoying. I turn off the option to show QT in the tray myself, but I don't think it's actually hogging any significant amount of resources. I just prefer a clean tray, and the QT icon there is stupid. <shrug>

--janak

Jason Dunn

03-14-2009, 04:37 PM

*ahem*Quicktime Alternative*ahem*

I'll have to do a test, but I'm not sure if it installs the files that ProShow Gold needs - remember this wasn't for playback purposes (I'd use VLC if that were the case), it was for MOV output.

Jason Dunn

03-14-2009, 04:40 PM

...this prevents a user who wants QT without iTunes from getting it without installing iTunes and then removing the app (leaving who knows what little pieces behind) for no benefit to a user who has no use for iTunes.

No argument from me here - as is evidenced by my post, this forced-bundling issue is idoitic and frustrating. I was simply referring to potential anti-trust litigation due to the distribution of Safari via iTunes updates - as long as you can un-check a box, I don't think there's anything legally dubious about it. But that's very different from this issue of not being able to get Quicktime without iTunes.

Macguy59

03-15-2009, 01:29 AM

But that's very different from this issue of not being able to get Quicktime without iTunes.

Except that I just provided a link to do just that

Jason Dunn

03-15-2009, 01:34 AM

Except that I just provided a link to do just that

Did you read my article before posting? If you had, you'd see that I have a link to Filehippo in my original post, so getting the Quicktime installer from an alternative source is clearly not the issue. No longer being able to get the file from Apple, clearly the best and safest route, is the issue. Most people that need a program made by a company are going to go to that company to get it, not a third party.

BevHoward

03-17-2009, 11:19 PM

top center of the page at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

radio buttons for QT download with/without itunes

Beverly Howard

Sven Johannsen

03-18-2009, 01:31 AM

top center of the page at Apple - QuickTime - Download (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/)

radio buttons for QT download with/without itunes

Beverly Howard

I'll swear that wasn't there when this thread was started. Went to Apple (http://www.apple.com/) and searched around for less than a minute to find your link. Couple of days ago spent 20 minutes, and never got a link to that page, or any that would offer a current version of QT without iTunes. I'm sure others did too.

Jason Dunn

03-18-2009, 05:15 AM

top center of the page at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ radio buttons for QT download with/without itunes

Hah! Apple must have just changed that - it was definitely, 100% NOT there the day before I posted, the day I posted, and several days after when everyone was trying to point me to the direct download.

Maybe Apple does listen. Go figure. :confused: