Does Firefox version 53 for Mac support QUICKTIME
I have a website I developed for my class that uses Quicktime movies on Mac computers. I recently tried to use it with my MacBook Air Firefox browser that had been updated to version 53.0.2 and the Quicktime movies no longer run. When I click a link for a Quicktime movie, the browser window opens, but it is blank and no movie ever appears (the movies still run fine if I use my Safari browser). I checked "Add-ons" and the Quicktime plugin is not listed. When I search all plugins, there is also no listing for Quicktime. Note that my Quicktime Plugin is active in my Library/Internet Plug-ins folder since Quicktime works in Safari. Is there a way to activate Quicktime in Firefox version 53 or is it no longer supported? Thank you
Chosen solution
No, the last versions of Firefox that run the QuickTime plugins are:
- Firefox 51 (not recommended)
- Extended Support Release of Firefox 52
As you probably have read in discussions of other plugins, the regular release of Firefox 52-53 only allows one plugin, which is Flash. The Extended Support Release (ESR) of Firefox 52 will still run Java, QuickTime (on Mac), and other old plugins that ran in Firefox 51.
ESR was first developed to meet the needs of large organizations that wanted Firefox to change much more slowly. It gets security updates but no feature changes for about a year at a time. You don't have to be in a company to use it.
More information on this change and ESR: Why do Java, Silverlight, Adobe Acrobat and other plugins no longer work?
Notes for Windows Users:
(1) To play QuickTime media on Windows, install the VLC plugin. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
(2) When you get to the ESR installer list, you'll notice at least two different downloads for Windows:
- Windows installer is the standard version for Windows that runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista through 10 (and 32-bit XP), the best choice for most users
- Windows 64-bit installer ONLY runs the Flash and Silverlight plugins, so that may not be what you're looking for. (If someone reading this only needs Silverlight and is considering switching to 64-bit, there may be some extra file cleanup to do on your system. See: How to switch from 32-bit to 64-bit Firefox.)
All Replies (4)
Chosen Solution
No, the last versions of Firefox that run the QuickTime plugins are:
- Firefox 51 (not recommended)
- Extended Support Release of Firefox 52
As you probably have read in discussions of other plugins, the regular release of Firefox 52-53 only allows one plugin, which is Flash. The Extended Support Release (ESR) of Firefox 52 will still run Java, QuickTime (on Mac), and other old plugins that ran in Firefox 51.
ESR was first developed to meet the needs of large organizations that wanted Firefox to change much more slowly. It gets security updates but no feature changes for about a year at a time. You don't have to be in a company to use it.
More information on this change and ESR: Why do Java, Silverlight, Adobe Acrobat and other plugins no longer work?
Notes for Windows Users:
(1) To play QuickTime media on Windows, install the VLC plugin. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
(2) When you get to the ESR installer list, you'll notice at least two different downloads for Windows:
- Windows installer is the standard version for Windows that runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista through 10 (and 32-bit XP), the best choice for most users
- Windows 64-bit installer ONLY runs the Flash and Silverlight plugins, so that may not be what you're looking for. (If someone reading this only needs Silverlight and is considering switching to 64-bit, there may be some extra file cleanup to do on your system. See: How to switch from 32-bit to 64-bit Firefox.)
Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
That answers my question. Thank you! I'm really sorry to see Quicktime support end. There are certain things that can be done with a Quicktime movie that, as far as I've been able to determine, can't be done with any other video format. These are capabilities that are critical for using it as a teaching tool in my course. If you're interested, let me know and I'll fill you in.
I'm pretty helpless at creating/editing videos, so need to go into detail. Do you allow downloading of your videos or do they need to be interactive in a web page? If downloading is okay, you can provide a download link to your users who do not get a player to load. For example, you can do that inside the <object> tags in the page as alternate content, or below the player area.
Yes, I've thought about setting things up so that the movie downloads and simply plays in Quicktime outside the browser environment. However, it's more efficient if things are done within the browser. Thanks for your thoughts on all this.