Vista - Alternative to Quicktime

Since I use the x64 version of Vista, I am plagued with Quicktime's black bar, like everyone else out there on x64. I just find it ridiculous that after more than a year, this bug still remains. Makes me wonder if they may have even purposely put it there because I'm sure they aren't making any effort in fixing it. The only way that I know of to be able to see the bar is by running the browser in compatibility mode for Windows XP. I would do that, but the problem is that Vista then changes the Aero to Basic until the browser is closed.

So you either:
1. Live with the black Quicktime progress bar.
2. Run the browser in compatibility mode and live with a changing theme (and if you already use the Basic theme by default, you're lucky)

Now, I know there's a program called Quicktime Alternative(QA) that basically provides the core functions of Quicktime, while letting you watch most anything that's in a Quicktime format through Media Player Classic. Question is, since I have to uninstall the original Quicktime to use QA, would it affect my iTunes? Do you guys know if QA can also do Quicktime's virtual tours and 360* views?

I also have the Vista Codecs installed, and for those of you that don't know, there's a Quicktime codec in there. While I get a better balance of colors in WMP than in Quicktime, the volume of the audio is too loud and distorts (not distorts the speakers, but the audio itself). So I don't know what else I can do...

I am open to anything that doesn't involve changing themes or black bars...

Quicktime and iTunes go hand in hand unfortunately. You should be able to use the QT Alternative though and still retain the iTunes functionality and simply not use the real QT.

Yeah, I thought those two were married to each other. Thing is that I can't install QA without first uninstalling the real Quicktime.

Bummer...

Unistall iTunes and QT, then install QTA and finally iTunes again. Your music should be in a folder not affected by the uninstall.

I knew my music would be untouched, but I wasn't sure if iTunes would have been able to operate without the full Quicktime (QT).
Anyways, I went ahead and uninstalled QT, then install QA. It was nice to see that iTunes didn't complain and worked fine. The color balance was better using QA with Media Player Classic (and in par with WMP using the Vista Codecs) than the original QT (I find that the original QT saturation is a little low and the brightness is a bit high. And while I know that I could change those settings in the video controls, since the settings do not stick after QT's been closed, I am not interested in having to adjust them every time I open QT). The sound was also nice and crisp, but there was a lot of stuttering in the HD videos, which I have not seen using the original QT or WMP.

Finally, the main reason I was switching was because of the black bar in browsers. I'm sad to say that QA uses the same QT plugin and therefore shows us the same problem because it uses the QT interface in embedded online videos, not the Media Player Classic bar I was hoping for...

Oh well... We'll just have to wait for Apple to release and x64 version of QT, or someone to fix the black bar. I am open to any other suggestions.

I would try Winamp.

Taken directly from Winamp's faq.
I also read that Winamp cannot be embedded into the browser, so

Does Apple - iTunes - Download iTunes download iTunes *and* QT or just iTunes?

Because you can still get QT w/o iTunes....

1. Yes because iTunes cannot work without QT.
2. I know I can download QT by itself.

The main problem here is the black bar that a Windows x64 user gets in his browser when watching embedded QT movies. A quick search for "Quicktime black bar" can show you that this is a very widespread problem affecting every x64 user. Btw, I am talking about an x64 OS, not an x64 browser (in my case, I'm using Firefox 3.0.1). So I was looking for another player that could play the embedded QT movies without having to launch an external player.

There's plenty of previous threads on this same issue (just to list a few):
http://www.vistax64.com/network-inte...r-missing.html
Quicktime black bar

And for those that may not be completely sure about the black progress/media bar, I've attached a picture showing the 2.

I see what you mean now.