WMV encoded video in the wild is a lot less common than it once was, but there is still a need for Telestream’s Flip4Mac, the official Windows Media playback component for QuickTime. And, this whole number release brings Mountain Lion compatibility, as well as a bunch of new features and fixes.

Telestream is shipping Flip4Mac 3 beta, which is a paid upgrade ($9 and up) from version 2. Most of the new features are in the pay-to-play versions (Pro, Studio, Studio Pro HD) of this package, thought the rest of us get Mountain Lion compatibility and bug fixes in the freebie:

• Introduced the new Flip Player application for playing, editing, and transcoding video and audio. Flip Player supports unique features such as dimming the background, cropping video, and creation of iPhone ringtones. It also supports exporting to Apple and Telestream applications, exporting to Apple devices, and Windows Media
— Flip Player replaces the WMV Player application
• All software is now signed with a digital certificate from Apple to address security and anti-malware requirements in Gatekeeper
• Added support for the application/x-ms-wmp mime type
• Added 64-bit Core Audio support for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
• [Fix] Flip4Mac will now continue playing even if it encounters corrupted audio packets, as long as there are enough valid packets to prevent a perceptible problem with the audio
• Fixed a bug that prevented Flip4Mac from opening local wvx files
• Fixed a bug that prevented MMS stream playback and resulted in a -19160 error
• Fixed potential crashes and memory leaks
• Fixed various issues with QuickTime X Player 10.2 in Mountain Lion

Get your copy of Flip4Mac 3 beta here — it works with Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Snow Leopard and Leopard users are likely stuck now and forever at v2.4.4.

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