I want you to actually try Zoom Player, so no "activation" games, I haven't even requested your emails from GOTD, just enjoy my software, recommend it to others and give me ideas on how to make it better for you.

Hi andario,
Thank you for your kind words.

I first want to address the technical aspects. Both potplayer, MPC variants and Zoom Player use the DirectShow framework for audio playback. Directshow is microsoft's "plugin" infrastructure for media playback. This means that the audio quality shouldn't be locked in to a specific player, but rather achieved through the selection of the right audio rendering component.

In Zoom Player you can use MPC-HC's audio renderer which support direct output of audio, bypassing the Windows audio mixer, achieving the best "decoded" quality. If potplayer does some post-processing to the audio that might sound better, then that's something I'm not familiar with, but if you want the best "as the artist intended" quality, it can be done through Zoom Player.

If you care about quality, any higher than stereo quality (e.g. DTS/Atmos/etc) should be decoded on external receivers through bitstreaming. And even if you decode these formats on your PC, Zoom Player offers plenty of down-mixing and DRC options.

With the technical part aside, let me answer why you should use my software over others. Potplayer is a corporation, the chances of seeing anything that may be important to you done will be slow, complicated and may never happen.

MPC's variants are open-source projects, some have been abandoned, but those that are still developed put their focus on core technologies, for example supporting new formats and display modes. The UI/UX has not improved in over 10 years probably.

Zoom Player on the other hand is a lot more versatile, providing a much more customized user interface experience while still being able to leverage the core technologies from other projects due to the plugin nature of Microsoft's DirectShow architecture.

Essentially, my goal is to create the best media experience my resources as an Indie developer allow me. And unlike corporations and most open-source projects, I strive to act quick on requests from my customers. I urge you to check Zoom Player's reddit community and review my dedication to giving thoughtful answers and solutions whenever possible.

Thank you Brent,
Looking forward to hear your opinion of Zoom Player.

Hi Dennis,
Zoom Player is fully compatible with Windows 11.
What was the actual issue? Did you try disabling A/V software?

Hi TK,
While I understand your use-case, Windows XP - Windows 7 are no longer supported by Microsoft and are inherently unsafe. Zoom Player can run on Windows XP and you can manually install older components to make it work, but I would not recommend using insecure operating systems.

Inmatrix, windows itself is inherently unsafe as proven by the need for regular scheduled critical security updates.... Vista is also still patched monthly by using Windows Server 2008 same goes for Windows 7 using Server 2008 R2. Patched editions of windows are all pretty much as secure as each other, with older patched versions likely being more secure seeing as they have a smaller attack surface than the likes of bloatdows 10 and now 11. As far as I know windows XP is no longer being patched using the imbedded POS code line and wouldn't bother putting that online in ay way as all browsers that support that are so far out of support as to be mostly non-functional regardless of potential security vulnerabilities which are unlikely to be targeted due to the smaller user base size.

Eric, Yes: Licence details:

Non expirable, no updates, support available on Zoom Player's reddit community

Eric,
The license doesn't expire, but if you want to upgrade to newer versions, you have to buy a license. I hope you love Zoom Player so much you would recommend it to friends & family.

There is no media player that provides an interface and experience as versatile as Zoom Player's.

Eric, their giveaways on all platforms they appear on are perpetual/non-expiring licenses but always are not supporting unpaid updates. A real no compromise giveaway, no never sold trials and other such shenanigans.
TK

Thank you Dan

Edward,
It's possible your A/V software is interfering.

You can download the webview directly from microsoft:
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/?form=MA13LH

If you're on Windows 11 it's already installed and you don't need to download it again from the install center.

Inmatrix, I may be wrong but am I right in my understanding that webview2 is basically a chrome engine and as such is not supported in its latest version under windows 7 and not at all as any version under windows Vista or XP?
TK

Inmatrix, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-edge/webview2/?form=MA13LH#supported-platforms should not be offered under Windows 7 unless you can download version 109 last supported version should not be offered under Vista and earlier as never was supported prior to 7! SOME components in the install center do publish their compatibility matrix and for those you should incorporate that logic into your install center IMHO.
TK

TK,
There is a limit to the backward compatibility I can offer with 3rd party components. While Zoom Player itself is probably compatible all the way down to Windows 98SE, the third party components use build tools that are not compatible with older OSes and as an Indie developer, my resources for managing this are limited.

Thank you for your kind words Don,

I actually integrated the VLC media engine into Zoom Player 19, so if something is playing better with VLC (rarely the case), you can flip a switch and have Zoom Player use the VLC media engine to decode it.

george ❤

george , I remember when it used to be the ONLY free way to play back DVD-Video under Windows 98...
TK

Duncan Pallister, see


Upgrades
Zoom Player is upgrade friendly, you can install new versions over previous installations without stability issues. If you would like to reset Zoom Player's settings to their default value, run "Default Settings" in the Zoom Player Programs folder.

https://inmatrix.com/zplayer/
and scroll down to find the text above.

Duncan Pallister,
No, there shouldn't be any issue installing over v17.2, what are you experiencing?

Make sure it's not windows defender or some other software blocking the installation. I did submit the installers to the A/V companies, including microsoft smartscreen more than a week ago, but sometimes that doesn't help.

Inmatrix,

Thanks for the reply.

I received a message telling me that to continue with the upgrade i would need to purchase a licence but prior to this there were two files it would not load, so rather than abort I chose 'ignore'.

I assumed that this may be to do with the previous version being in place.

Inmatrix,

Ignore my comments.
Just tried again and alls well.

Perfect re-install - now running V 19
Thank you

Duncan Pallister,
I'm glad you got it working.