Installers & Compatibility Notes

RealPlayer Installers:
Version Macintosh Windows
RealAudio 3.0* System 7:
68k | PowerPC 		Win95/NT4
x86
RealPlayer 5.0 System 7 ~ MacOS 9:
PowerPC 		Win95/NT4/2K/XP
x86
RealPlayer 8.0** MacOS 8-9:
PowerPC 		Win2K/XP/7
x86
*The RealAudio 3 installer for Mac has an expiration date of February 9, 2002. Set your system clock to any earlier date. The player app itself has no date check.
**See compatibility notes regarding audio playback.

Compatibility Notes

If you already have RealPlayer installed on your vintage computer, you probably won't need to do anything. If this if your first time, please read the following:
  • RealAudio requires floating-point units to decode audio.
  • A 68030 >25MHz (+FPU) is required to play the low bitrate live stream.
  • A 68040 >33MHz (+FPU) can play more content, but not the high bitrate stream.
  • Any PowerPC-based Mac can play all audio streams and on-demand files.
  • 68k Macs can only run up to RealAudio Player 3.
  • RealPlayer 2.0 and 4.0 have compatibility issues: they send versions strings that trigger an update prompt from the server, but the players do not understand this and will report a false error.
  • RealPlayer G2 (6.0) and higher cannot play the low bitrate (14.4) stream because Real stopped bundling that specifc codecs on later releases.
  • Each Windows version of the above will have similar limitations.
  • The RealVideo feed is supported by VLC (only the highest bitrate will be sent).
This page was created by Brad Chapman for the annual #Marchintosh and GlobalTalk retro-computing projects.  I can be reached at theirongiant@hachyderm.io on Mastodon.  Sentences should have two spaces after the period.  Pineapple is a perfectly acceptable topping for pizza.