As you may remember, some time ago Microsoft made available a Google Chrome add-on to enable H.264 HTML5 video playback. Now, because IE9 does not come with the WebM codecs built-in, Google is returning the favor by releasing the WebM plugin for IE9 to enable support of WebM videos on Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 for Windows Vista and Windows 7 only.
For the installation, is pretty simple, you just need to visit the Google WebM codecs download page, click the big-blue Download WebM for IE9 button, agree to the license and the installer will take care of the rest, and as a bonus from the WebM codecs installation, you also will be able to play WebM videos in Microsoft Windows Media Player 12, since it also uses Media Foundation technology.
Asking yourself where to find WebM videos? OK, this is how you do it:
- After installing the WebM video codecs, go to www.youtube.com/html5 and enroll in the YouTube HTML5 experiment.
- Do a keyword search, for example movie trailers.
- In the search result, click on the Search options and in the Features column select WebM to filter out all other videos types. That’s it!
To uninstall the WebM codecs:
- Go to Start
in the search box type Programs and features and press Enter. - Locate WebM Media Foundation Components and click Uninstall.
Just remember that this plugin still in the preview stages, in other words not yet completed as Google has noted some known issues that need to be resolved, so it might not work perfectly on all systems.
If you are planning on using IE9, this a plugin that you want to have installed in your system as more and more WebM videos are showing up around the internet.
Last, keep in mind that WebM video codecs will only work with IE9 because IE8 and previous versions do not support HTML5 technology.
Source The WebM Project
Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.