InterActual Player for Macintosh Frequently Asked Questions

InterActual Player for Macintosh FAQ

Article #:	0144
Article Date:	11/17/2003
Author:	Daniel R.

Problem:

Frequently Asked Questions about the InterActual Player for Mac OS X

Solution:

What is the InterActual Player?

InterActual-enhanced DVD titles, also known as DVD-ROM titles, include added-value features provided by studios to their customers. These features typically contain HTML content interacting with DVD-Video playback. These HTML pages may be stored locally on the DVD, or reside online at a studio website.

What DVDs are available with Macintosh content?

As of the time of writing, a number of other DVDs have been released with custom players designed for the interactive features on that particular DVD. A list of these DVDs is maintained in a Support article on InterActual's Support Website (http://support.interactual.com/).

Why can't I play back other DVDs with ROM content on my Macintosh; they say they support the InterActual Player?

Much of the ROM content released in the last few years utilizes a special ActiveX object which is currently only compatible with the InterActual Player 2.0 for Windows.

However, the news is not all bad. Many DVDs contain ROM features that do not rely on the ActiveX object. Such features may be compatible with the browsers on the Macintosh but are not at this time supported or automatically launched by the Macintosh player. Only DVDs with specialized Macintosh content will automatically launch when played using the InterActual Player.

Why wasn't the InterActual Player for Macintosh released earlier?

InterActual's initial product, PCFriendly, had limited Apple support, and certain titles were released with limited Apple DVD-ROM capability.

The first release of InterActual Player 2.0 was a PC-only release, as its DVD-ROM capabilities (in particular, its ability to embed DVD-Video in HTML pages) could not be implemented under early releases of Mac OS X (10.0.x, 10.1.x). Indeed, until the release of Mac OS X 10.3 the frameworks (API) for playing DVDs were private and as a result Apple's DVD Player was the only mechanism for playing back DVDs; this limitation prevented the full integration of HTML and DVD Video on Mac OS systems.

What versions of Mac OSX will the InterActual Player work with?

The InterActual Player v1.6 and earlier are certified to work with Mac OSX 10.2 and Mac OSX 10.3. v1.7 is certified to run under Mac OSX 10.3 and Mac OSX 10.4 (it may also run under OSX 10.2, but not all features will work).