Video for Windows

<h2 id="overview">Overview</h2>
<p>Video for Windows was first introduced in November 1992. It was developed as a reaction to <a href="/facts/Apple_Computer/oTJYta3k">Apple Computer</a>'s <a href="/facts/QuickTime/rA3GQp2j">QuickTime</a> technology, which added digital video to the <a href="/facts/Macintosh/8GhnXTK0">Macintosh</a> platform. Costing around $200,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> the product included <a href="/facts/Video_editing_software/Jxaro6Ej">editing</a> and <a href="/facts/Transcoding/5GHL1F4B">encoding</a> programs for use with video input boards. A runtime version for viewing videos only was also made available as a free add-on to <a href="/facts/Windows_3.1/zYnWyaC6">Windows 3.1</a> and Windows 3.11; it then became an integral component of <a href="/facts/Windows_95/1E1L93qC">Windows 95</a> and later.
</p><p>Like QuickTime, Video for Windows had three key aspects: <a href="/facts/Audio_Video_Interleave/2pr8AoRT">Audio Video Interleave</a> (AVI), a container file format designed to store digital video; an <a href="/facts/Application_programming_interface/GMlN4vUr">application programming interface</a> (API) that allowed <a href="/facts/Software_developer/WGTS1Jv9">software developers</a> to play or manipulate <a href="/facts/Digital_video/xsn9omqG">digital video</a> in their own applications; a suite of software for playing and editing digital video. VfW software suite consisted of:
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Media_Player_(Microsoft)/k6xxSATq">Media Player</a></li>
<li>VidCap</li>
<li>VidEdit</li>
<li>BitEdit</li>
<li>PalEdit</li>
<li>WaveEdit</li></ul>
<p>The original version was limited to a maximum resolution of 320 pixels by 240 pixels and a maximum image rate of 30 frames per second.
</p><p>Video for Windows was mostly replaced by the July 1996 release of <a href="/facts/ActiveMovie/pNXsmlxS">ActiveMovie</a>, later known as <a href="/facts/DirectShow/d7dPeQ5W">DirectShow</a>. It was first released as a <a href="/facts/Beta_version/z4Q4RElA">beta version</a> along with the second beta of <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer_3/nVMNx0GX">Internet Explorer 3</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> ActiveMovie was released as a free download, either standalone or bundled with <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer/uL8a4Y5l">Internet Explorer</a>. ActiveMovie, however, did not support <a href="/facts/Video_capture/D4HgJ7As">video capture</a>. Video for Windows was still used for video capture until the release of <a href="/facts/Windows_Driver_Model/uY5sVh84">Windows Driver Model</a> capture drivers, which only started to become popular in 2000.
</p><p>Video for Windows became an issue in a lawsuit <a href="/facts/Apple_Inc./oTJYta3k">Apple</a> filed in December 1994 against <a href="/facts/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company/WcSQ4dY1">San Francisco Canyon Company</a> and in 1995 against <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> and <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a> alleging theft of several thousand lines of <a href="/facts/QuickTime/rA3GQp2j">QuickTime</a> source code to improve the performance of Video for Windows.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> This lawsuit was ultimately settled in 1997, when Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer the default browser over <a href="/facts/Netscape_(web_browser)/xlwyWFWS">Netscape</a>; in exchange, Microsoft agreed to continue developing <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Office/faD8vYG0">Microsoft Office</a> and other software for <a href="/facts/Mac_OS/EkobAhow">Mac OS</a> for the next 5 years, and purchase $150 million of non-voting Apple stock.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
</p><p>In March 1997, Microsoft announced that ActiveMovie would become part of <a href="/facts/DirectX/jyy75wVN">DirectX 5</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> and around July started referring to it as <a href="/facts/DirectShow/d7dPeQ5W">DirectShow</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="version-history">Version history</h2>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Release date</th><th>Version</th><th>Description</th></tr><tr><td>November 1992</td><td>Video for Windows 1.0</td><td>First public release. Including Microsoft <a href="/facts/Run-length_encoding/3k6x9afM">RLE</a> and <a href="/facts/Video1/bzJqe61X">Video1</a> codecs.</td></tr><tr><td>November 1993<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></td><td>Video for Windows 1.1</td><td>Added <a href="/facts/Cinepak/7l5Jhr0Y">Cinepak</a> codec. Five updates were released for this version: 1.1a through 1.1e, with the last one (published in March 1995) being the last version for Windows 3.1x. 1.1d included <a href="/facts/Indeo/xvNS7f50">Indeo</a> 3.2 codec (which Apple alleged to have infringed on the source code from Apple's QuickTime for Windows).</td></tr><tr><td>September 1994</td><td>Video for Windows NT</td><td>Bundled with <a href="/facts/Windows_NT_3.5/QJq52ukC">Windows NT 3.5</a> and later</td></tr><tr><td>August 1995</td><td>Video for Windows 95</td><td>Bundled with <a href="/facts/Windows_95/1E1L93qC">Windows 95</a></td></tr><tr><td>July 1996</td><td><a href="/facts/ActiveMovie/pNXsmlxS">ActiveMovie</a> 1.0</td><td>The successor of Video for Windows. Added support for <a href="/facts/MPEG-1/ewnQQLPD">MPEG-1</a> and QuickTime file formats.</td></tr><tr><td>March 1997</td><td><a href="/facts/DirectShow/d7dPeQ5W">DirectShow</a> 1.0</td><td>The successor of ActiveMovie.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/QuickTime/rA3GQp2j">QuickTime</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Media_Control_Interface/xm3JDTnn">Media Control Interface</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"PC Plus". Future Publishing. May 1993: 61. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) <a href="/wiki/PC_Plus" target="_blank">/wiki/PC_Plus</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Microsoft Delivers ActiveMovie for Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0". News Center. Microsoft. July 16, 1996. Retrieved 21 November 2014. <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/1996/07/16/microsoft-delivers-activemovie-for-microsoft-internet-explorer-3-0/" target="_blank">http://news.microsoft.com/1996/07/16/microsoft-delivers-activemovie-for-microsoft-internet-explorer-3-0/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Markoff, John (February 10, 1995). "Intel and Microsoft Added to Apple Lawsuit". The New York Times. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/business/company-news-intel-and-microsoft-added-to-apple-lawsuit.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/business/company-news-intel-and-microsoft-added-to-apple-lawsuit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Duncan, Geoff (February 13, 1995). "Apple Sues Intel, Microsoft - Again". TidBITS. TidBITS Publishing. <a href="http://tidbits.com/article/1625" target="_blank">http://tidbits.com/article/1625</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Mace, Michael (9 February 1995). "An Open Letter to the Computing Community". Apple Inc. Michigan State University. Archived from the original on 5 June 2001. Retrieved 5 June 2001. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20010605082836/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/1stltr.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20010605082836/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/1stltr.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Mace, Michael. "Second open letter from Apple". Apple Inc. Michigan State University. Archived from the original on 12 October 2000. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20001012140945/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/2ndltr.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20001012140945/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/2ndltr.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Kawamoto, Dawn; Heskett, Ben; Ricciuti, Mike (August 6, 1997). "MS to invest $150 million in Apple". CNET News. CBS Interactive. <a href="http://news.cnet.com/MS-to-invest-150-million-in-Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html" target="_blank">http://news.cnet.com/MS-to-invest-150-million-in-Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>"Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement". FindLaw. August 5, 1997. Archived from the original on August 11, 2002. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20020811140307/http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/apple/microsoft.1997.08.05.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20020811140307/http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/apple/microsoft.1997.08.05.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>"Microsoft Unveils First Unified Multimedia API Strategy". News Center. Microsoft. March 31, 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2014. <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/1997/03/31/microsoft-unveils-first-unified-multimedia-api-strategy/" target="_blank">http://news.microsoft.com/1997/03/31/microsoft-unveils-first-unified-multimedia-api-strategy/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>"Microsoft and Progressive Networks Collaborate on Streaming Media". News Center. Microsoft. July 21, 1997. Retrieved 17 November 2014. <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/1997/07/21/microsoft-and-progressive-networks-collaborate-on-streaming-media/" target="_blank">http://news.microsoft.com/1997/07/21/microsoft-and-progressive-networks-collaborate-on-streaming-media/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>Damore, Kelley (November 22, 1993). "Video for Windows developer tools speed playback". InfoWorld. InfoWorld Media Group, inc. Retrieved 21 January 2020. <a href="https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1993" target="_blank">https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1993</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Video for Windows open-in-new

Video for Windows