ActiveMovie

ActiveMovie allows users to view media streams, whether distributed via the Internet, an intranet or CD-ROMs.

This allowed users to play multimedia files and thus was a rudimentary media player.

In March 1997, Microsoft announced that ActiveMovie was going to become part of the DirectX set of technologies,[3] and by July it was being referred to as DirectShow.

[4] Version 5.2 of Windows Media Player would remove the ActiveMovie Control icon from the Start Menu upon installation.

Microsoft provided instructions for reinstalling the icon on its website.