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One of the main points of criticisms in previous Windows operating systems was the lack of supported video codecs. Users always had to rely on third party codecs or independent video players to play some of the most common video formats properly. We already mentioned that Windows 7 will contain additional support for popular video codecs including the Divx codec. A recent post on the changes of the Windows 7 Release Candidate hint at another codec that will be added in Windows 7.

Talks are that Windows 7 will include a native codec to play .mov files without the need for Apple Quicktime or third party video players that support the video format. The information is somewhat hidden under the Windows Media Player entry in the list of changes, it states:

Customers loved the increased range of formats natively supported by the Windows 7 Beta, but noticed areas where they wanted broader support. For example, one was unable to seek to a specific spot in the video in Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center for AVCHD content that was imported from a digital camcorder. We’ve addressed this. Also, while the support for video from some digital cameras worked great, we also got feedback about supporting a broader set of devices out of the box. We’ve since added support for Windows Media Player to natively support the .MOV files used to capture video for many common digital cameras.

That’s good news for Windows Media Player users who had to install multiple video and audio codecs to add support for those popular file types in the past.

Source: Windows 7 News