WebM filter preview gives IE9 WebM compatibility

[javajolt]

Outtake:

Google has released a preview WebM filter for Windows Vista and Windows 7. When installed, the filter will allow Windows programs—including Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, and perhaps most importantly of all, Internet Explorer 9—to play back WebM-encoded video.

Internet Explorer 9, which was released earlier this week, introduced support for the HTML5 element, which enables plug-in-free, browser-based video playback. While Firefox, Chrome, and Opera all embed video codecs into the browsers themselves, Microsoft has opted to use Windows' Media Foundation API to play back video. Out of the box, Media Foundation does not include a WebM codec, and so Internet Explorer 9 only supports H.264. With this filter, Google is filling in the gap.



It does exactly what it's supposed to.

Installing it makes no visible changes to the system—WebM videos just work automatically.