back to article 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 …

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  1. graeme leggett Silver badge

    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.

    1. 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".

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

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

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    WTF!

    People are still using Quicktime? In 2016?

    NB Flushing away Apple Bonjour is also a good idea.

    1. Geoffrey W

      Re: WTF!

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

      1. cosymart
        Facepalm

        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.

    2. Barry Rueger

      Re: WTF!

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

      1. Anonymous Coward
        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 :).

        1. Anonymous Coward
          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?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WTF!

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

      1. 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.

      2. paulf
        Mushroom

        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)_/¯"

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: WTF!

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

          Fucking Silverlight? I wouldn't even kiss it.

          1. paulf
            Coffee/keyboard

            Re: WTF!

            @ Anonymous Coward

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

            See icon!

    4. 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...

      1. Robert Helpmann??
        Childcatcher

        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.

  4. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
    Facepalm

    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...

    1. Mage Silver badge
      Trollface

      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?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      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.

      1. Richard Parkin

        iPhoto still works with El Capitain

        As subject

      2. Mpeler
        Pint

        Re: Trailers Site?

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

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

  5. framitzula

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

  6. 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?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Mage Silver badge

      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

  7. Shane Lusby

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

  8. Anonymous Coward
    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.

  9. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          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

        2. John F***ing Stepp
          Happy

          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.

      2. Havin_it
        Boffin

        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

  10. The Alphabet

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

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

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

  11. 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.

    1. 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

      1. Anonymous Coward
        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.

  12. decoherence

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

  13. 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

  14. kain preacher

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

  15. Grease Monkey Silver badge

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

  16. Efros

    I know not of what you speak

    Quick what now?

  17. 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.

    1. Hans 1
      Joke

      Re: Bah!

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

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re: Bah!

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

  18. LaeMing
    Linux

    @ProprietaryFormatProblems

  19. markusgarvey
    Pint

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

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Remove quicktime?

    The pleasure is all mine.

  21. 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.

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