Microsoft Windows, Tandy Video Information System, Sony Multimedia CD-ROM Player
Editor software
Microsoft Multimedia Viewer Publishing Toolkit
Player software
Microsoft Multimedia Viewer
Format(s)
MVB
Application(s)
Reference work, encyclopedia
Status
Discontinued
License
Proprietary
Microsoft Multimedia Viewer or simply Viewer was a multimedia authoring tool for Windows built upon WinHelp online help format. The toolkit was used to develop Microsoft's early Windows CD-ROM reference titles like Encarta, Cinemania and Bookshelf, as well as for a number of third-party multimedia titles for Windows 3.1 like the CD-ROM edition of The Merck Manual.[1]
Just like WinHelp files, Viewer files were compiled from Rich Text Format (RTF) source documents. Users of both WinHelp and Multimedia Viewer authoring tools noted similarities between them.[2] Some tools for .htm file decompiling, like WinHelp Decompiler (open source) or Herd Software's Help to RTF, can extract them from Viewer's .mvb files.
The development of Viewer, initially named "WinDoc" and "WinBook," began in 1989.[3] The initial version was released in September 1991 as a part of the Multimedia Development Kit, with a version 2.0 announced in 1993. Software bundles which included the publishing toolkit were priced at $495 with a royalty-free runtime version.[4] A custom version of Viewer 2.0, limited to 25 topics, was included with a $39.95 tutorial book published in 1994 by the Waite Group.[5]
In addition to titles for Windows-based PCs, Multimedia Viewer could compile titles for Tandy Video Information System and other Modular Windows systems, as well as Sony Multimedia CD-ROM Player, a portable MS-DOS-based CD-ROM XA reader released in 1992. Viewer did not support a concurrent CD-I data format, with Rob Glaser, Microsoft's vice president of Multimedia & Consumer Systems at the time, being dismissive of it as "not based on any standard."[6]
^Pruitt 1994, pp. 7–12.
^Milter, Richard G.; Stinson, John E.; Gijselaers, Wim H. (2013). "Development of the "Bread and Butter" Multimedia Business Cases". Educational Innovation in Economics and Business III: Innovative Practices in Business Education. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9789401713887.
^Moody 1995, p. 129.
^Clancy, Heather (1991-09-02). "Development Kit Due This Month — Microsoft to ship multimedia tools". Computer Reseller News. No. 436. CMP Publications, Inc. Microsoft is due to ship early this month the Multimedia Development Kit [...] The product will include Multimedia Viewer for building and distributing presentations that use sound, animation and video.
^Simon, Barry (1994-10-25). "Learning to Use a Programmer's Gem". PCMag. p. 73. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
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