Editing Video for Windows (section)

==Overview==
Video for Windows was first introduced in November 1992. It was developed as a reaction to [[Apple Computer]]'s [[QuickTime]] technology, which added digital video to the [[Macintosh]] platform. Costing around $200,<ref name="Issue 80">{{cite journal | title= [[PC Plus]] | publisher = [[Future Publishing]] | date = May 1993 | page = 61 }}</ref> the product included [[video editing software|editing]] and [[transcoding|encoding]] programs for use with video input boards. A runtime version for viewing videos only was also made available as a free add-on to [[Windows 3.1]] and Windows 3.11; it then became an integral component of [[Windows 95]] and later.

Like QuickTime, Video for Windows had three key aspects: [[Audio Video Interleave]] (AVI), a container file format designed to store digital video; an [[application programming interface]] (API) that allowed [[software developer]]s to play or manipulate [[digital video]] in their own applications; a suite of software for playing and editing digital video. VfW software suite consisted of:
*[[Media Player (Microsoft)|Media Player]]
*VidCap
*VidEdit
*BitEdit
*PalEdit
*WaveEdit

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.

Video for Windows was mostly replaced by the July 1996 release of [[ActiveMovie]], later known as [[DirectShow]]. It was first released as a [[beta version]] along with the second beta of [[Internet Explorer 3]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.microsoft.com/1996/07/16/microsoft-delivers-activemovie-for-microsoft-internet-explorer-3-0/ | title=Microsoft Delivers ActiveMovie for Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 | publisher=Microsoft | date=July 16, 1996 | work=News Center | access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref> ActiveMovie was released as a free download, either standalone or bundled with [[Internet Explorer]]. ActiveMovie, however, did not support [[video capture]]. Video for Windows was still used for video capture until the release of [[Windows Driver Model]] capture drivers, which only started to become popular in 2000.

Video for Windows became an issue in a lawsuit [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] filed in December 1994 against [[San Francisco Canyon Company]] and in 1995 against [[Microsoft]] and [[Intel]] alleging theft of several thousand lines of [[QuickTime]] source code to improve the performance of Video for Windows.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Markoff |first=John |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/business/company-news-intel-and-microsoft-added-to-apple-lawsuit.html |title=Intel and Microsoft Added to Apple Lawsuit |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 10, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Duncan |first=Geoff |url=http://tidbits.com/article/1625 |title=Apple Sues Intel, Microsoft - Again |work=TidBITS |publisher=TidBITS Publishing  |date=February 13, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mace |first=Michael |url=http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/1stltr.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010605082836/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/1stltr.html |archive-date=5 June 2001 |title=An Open Letter to the Computing Community |date=February 9, 1995 |publisher=Apple Inc |agency=[[Michigan State University]] |access-date=5 June 2001 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mace|first=Michael|title=Second open letter from Apple|url=http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/2ndltr.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001012140945/http://www.pa.msu.edu/~hamlin/facts/2ndltr.html|archive-date=12 October 2000|publisher=Apple Inc|agency=[[Michigan State University]]}}</ref> This lawsuit was ultimately settled in 1997, when Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer the default browser over [[Netscape (web browser)|Netscape]]; in exchange, Microsoft agreed to continue developing [[Microsoft Office]] and other software for [[Mac OS]] for the next 5 years, and purchase $150 million of non-voting Apple stock.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kawamoto|first1=Dawn|last2=Heskett|first2=Ben|last3=Ricciuti|first3=Mike|date=August 6, 1997|title=MS to invest $150 million in Apple|url=http://news.cnet.com/MS-to-invest-150-million-in-Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html|work=[[CNET News]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/apple/microsoft.1997.08.05.html|title=Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement|work=FindLaw|date=August 5, 1997|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020811140307/http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/apple/microsoft.1997.08.05.html|archive-date=August 11, 2002}}</ref>

In March 1997, Microsoft announced that ActiveMovie would become part of [[DirectX|DirectX 5]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.microsoft.com/1997/03/31/microsoft-unveils-first-unified-multimedia-api-strategy/ | title=Microsoft Unveils First Unified Multimedia API Strategy | date=March 31, 1997 | work=News Center |publisher=[[Microsoft]] | access-date=21 November 2014 }}</ref> and around July started referring to it as [[DirectShow]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.microsoft.com/1997/07/21/microsoft-and-progressive-networks-collaborate-on-streaming-media/ | title=Microsoft and Progressive Networks Collaborate on Streaming Media | date=July 21, 1997 | work=News Center |publisher=[[Microsoft]] | access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref>