A lot of Adobe software products have Quicktime dependency like Premiere & After Effects, those users are gonna get hurt by Adobe's laziness.

Not really. Adobe's QT Server is just so that people who are dependent on Quirktime won't have such a warm time. ProRes decoding for example won't happen if you don't have QT installed. However, you can install specific components individually and not the full software. If you are on OSX however, QT is already heavily integrated and all media software integrate it.

Hi Jayson, so what do you suggest for my After Effects? Is it gonna be an issue if I use it without the QT?

Apple is still offering QuickTime for Windows on their site, https://support.apple.com/k..., I would like to have information directly from Apple before we begin the task of doing uninstalls.

I agree...where is the official announcement from Apple? I'm not saying this is fake news, but without content from Apple directly, this looks suspicious.

I don't understand. If all that Apple provided you was uninstall instructions, then why are you claiming that Apple is discontinuing support for QuickTime for Windows? Where did you get that information? "Apple told us" is hearsay, and I would hope that Trend Micro would have done some due diligence and verified the claim. So, what verification did you find?

I've been searching for clues on Apple's website and on Google, and all I can turn up is a CERT advisory that points back to Trend Micro's claim. It looks like this all started with you.

I'm sorry, I need something more authoritative before I take action.

https://support.apple.com/k...
Apple says (on download page):
"Important: QuickTime 7 for Windows is no longer supported by Apple. [...] If you no longer need QuickTime 7 on your PC, follow the instructions for uninstalling QuickTime 7 for Windows."

Granted, that takes a little bit of interpretation but I think the recommendation is clear enough. i.e. UNLESS you need it, REMOVE it.
Curiously the "Important" disclaimer is on the download page but not the uninstall page.
In principle: Why keep any app that has known zero-day exploits but will never be patched? Why argue to keep it?
Why would you "need it"? Some older versions of iTunes and other products have cross dependencies... so they are not telling you to break things.
Honestly, I take it as they do not really care about Windows users so why put any effort into being clear and helpful.

That's something, but it doesn't go nearly as far as the Trend Micro advisory's "Urgent Call To Action". Where, for instance, is the information about the zero-day exploits?

It does answer my main complaint, though, and it's been up since January. Thanks.

Homeland security issued this warning it was on the news and in our local newspaper a few weeks ago

and then theres the fact that the osx version of quicktime is 6 years older than the windows version

Issuing an advisory based on unofficial communication? That seems ... risky.

Mr. Budd: It’s great that you provide this information and read comments on your site. That is rare. However, you have not provided proof of your statements. All you say is Apple told you how to uninstall QuickTime for Windows. That is a far cry from Apple telling you hundreds of millions of users should suddenly uninstall it. Even the esteemed Washington Post received a “no comment” from Apple when inquiring about the veracity of your claim.

do some research the latest version of quicktime for OSX is 6 years old
and only 10.5 gets 7.7 which is 5 years old
windows actually has a MUCH newer QT version then OSX

Do some research. Quick Time got a rewrite several years ago. QT 7.x is legacy version. Quick Time X (10.4) is the current version.

I'm confused here Christopher. You are reporting that everyone should follow Apple’s guidance and uninstall QuickTime for Windows as soon as possible, but you don't have anything that actually shows that Apple has advised people of that? Where did you find this information? Who at Apple informed you of this?

https://www.us-cert.gov/nca...

There your government even warns against it.

But hey I guess if your house burns down and the policeman tells you to get out of the house or you will die. You will tell him no because only the fire department can tell him when the fire is a danger to him.

Just wow ....

You do realize that Apple doesnt publicly knowledge because it will damage the little reputation they have left. They have only acknowledged a handful of the thousands of serious bugs on Apple products.

Go ahead keep it on your pc the Zero day remote execution backdoor that numerous security professionals prove to be there and can currently be exploited but it must be fake. Because Apple didn't say so ...

Its so nice that you commented on here now everyone has your ip address and knows you have quicktime. Have fun :)

Just how dumb are you .....

Just how well can you read? The CERT advisory says that the info comes from Trend Micro, who won't tell us where they got it from - which is what we are complaining about.

They are advising it based on known and proven security vulnerabilities that have gone unpatched, and Apple's statement that they will no longer provide support for it. Also, it's in an official CERT warning. Plenty good enough reasons without needing Apple to say "yea, our software is vulnerable". Even the DHS has issued an advisory on this.

Check Apple download page for "Important:" disclaimer:
https://support.apple.com/k...
"Important: QuickTime 7 for Windows is no longer supported by Apple. [...] If you no longer need QuickTime 7 on your PC, follow the instructions for uninstalling QuickTime 7 for Windows."

Granted, that takes a little bit of interpretation but I think the recommendation is clear enough. i.e. UNLESS you need it, REMOVE it.

So, this is about the player, not the codecs, right?
If so, it would be nice to have additional information on removing the player, and file associations, but keeping the codecs on the system. A lot of apps rely on the codecs.
On that note, does Apple have a codec pack for download?

Search out QT Lite on your favorite download website (like FileHippo.com) - includes the codecs and nothing else. Plays through Media Player Classic - also check out RealPlayer Lite (same thing.)

Just download a codec pack like K-Lite. Works just fine with WMP.

Considering that this doesn't talk to any reasons of "not supporting it any longer" in the link in question, only claiming to do these if you don't need it any more, I'm going to call BS on this until such time as Apple actually DOES make such statements as the ones you're making.

The problem begins with "security professionals" making stuff up to drum up business, which makes security researchers and the like LOOK BAD..

This could be a big problem for people using application that use QuickTime, such as music and video editing software.

Hopefully the risk is minimised if only the libraries are installed (without the player itself and the web browser add-in). It would be good if Apple or Trend Micro makes a clear statement regarding this scenario.

Windows 10 plays .MOV files natively. Moving on.

This is so absurd. Does Apple even realize how many professional programs use QuickTime? Everything from video editing software such as Davinci Resolve to Audio recording like ProTools. And what's more, It looks like these vendors weren't even warned on it's depreciation. What kind of software developer just randomly decides to discontinue a widely used piece of software without any warning?

MYOB rely's on QT for form rendering?

A good question to raise is how users can play QuickTime videos on their Windows machines like those they receive in an email from an iOS user or video files that their camera turns out. Here, you could highlight where to pick up safe QT codecs that they can use to play these files.

VLC player from videolan

Check out QT Lite from your favorite download spot. (I like FileHippo.com) It's just the codecs needed for playback and nothing else. Includes Media Player Classic (kind of like VLC) but you can use whatever. (And VLC plays MOVs just fine as it is.)

QT Lite uses an older version of the Apple components than the current version of QuickTime. It is not an alternative: it uses DLLs extracted from Apples own distribution package!

Because it is out of date it will likely have even more security problems.

This will also likely be true of any codec pack out there.

If the codecs turn out to be low-risk and only the player and web plugin are the problem, then you are far better off with a codec-only install of the official distribution.

The exploit is in the player itself, not the codec. The codecs from QT Lite have been confirmed to be safe from this vulnerability and no known exploits have been reported about the codecs included in QT Lite. Codec packs are a horrible idea as they frequently cause conflicts and orphaned files on the system, due to poor updates and maintenance. You need three things to play everything seamlessly on Windows: VLC, QT Lite an RealPlayer Alternative (aka RealAlt and RealPlayer Lite.) The lite versions allow you to use any player but install Media Player Classic, which can also assist with playing odd formats. (Do not confuse it with Windows media player as they are completely different applications.)

Is there an announcement from Apple stating that they're ending support?

Ninite Pro dropped support for installing QT on Win a few days ago stating Apple has discontinued QT. They only do that when an official sorts states it has their acquire their installers directly from source.

May I ask how did you came to the conclusion that they are depreciating it, from just an article about how to uninstall?

I think the fact that only Windows Vista/7 are supported operating systems and no updates have been released for 8/8.1 and 10 is a big clue.

I bet I can find you an article talking about how to uninstall your software.....

Read the timeline from ZDI and read between the lines. Slimy on Apple's part. http://zerodayinitiative.co...

Beware - iTunes relies on QuickTime to play music and videos! If you have iTunes I recommend holding off on this until Apple figures out a way to decouple them.

iTunes stopped relying on QuickTime (at least, on Windows) at version 10.5... and if you're still running that, you REALLY need to upgrade! (latest version is 12.3.3).

There are better alternatives on Windows for syncronising and backing up ipods/phones etc. Been unshackled using these a long time for windows.

I was wondering about this myself. QuickTime gets installed with iTunes. What will happen when you update install iTunes, will it just re-install a vulnerable QuickTime 7.7.9?

QT is a separate install from iTunes. You have to install it either manually or through the Apple software updater. But I imagine it is removed from there by now as well and you will only see iCloud and Apple application support installs or updates.

Quote from Apple Quicktime Uninstall Page:

"Most recent media-related programs for Windows—including iTunes 10.5 or
later—no longer use QuickTime to play modern media formats. These
programs either play the media directly or use the media support built
into Windows. "

Why would anyone want to install iTunes on a perfectly good computer?

This made me smile. Thank you.