Although QuickTime 7 is included as part of Mac OS X v10.4 “Tiger,” Apple has released QuickTime 7 separately for users of Mac OS X v10.3 “Panther.” The new update is available for download from Apple’s Web site and through the Software Update system preference pane.
The new version of QuickTime features support for videos encoded using H.264, also known as Advanced Video Codec (AVC). Live player resize, zero-configuration streaming, surround sound support, new and improved playback controls and an all-new content guide are included as part of the upgrade.
QuickTime 7 is a free download, but content creators who need advanced media authoring features will need to upgrade to QuickTime 7 Pro for US$29.99. If you’ve already paid for a QuickTime Pro license for a previous release, you will need to pay again for the new version.
Additional features supported by QuickTime 7 Pro include audio and video recording capabilities, simplified movie sharing, full-screen floating controls, H.264 video creation, surround audio creation, concurrent exports, improved media authoring, AAC constant-quality encoding and 3G streaming content creation.
System requirements for QuickTime 7 call for a G3/400MHz or faster, 128MB RAM and Mac OS X v10.3.9.
QuickTime 7 for Windows is “coming soon” according to Apple, but QuickTime 6.5 is still the current version for Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP.