QuickTime 7 to be a huge step forward. UPDATED!

UPDATE: One source claims QuickTime 7 could also bring support for multi-channel encoding and playback. The source also told it implies the use of CoreAudio on the Mac version of QuickTime. Other new sources confirmed that it is unlikely Apple includes third-party and open codecs directly installed with QuickTime.

I've been seeking and verifying information about the next major release of QuickTime for months now. I've finally gathered and confirmed some very interesting information from several sources who all claim that QuickTime 7.0 will offer huge improvements over the current version.

First of all, we all know that Apple wants to add support for the H.264 codec into QuickTime but it is actually not the only new codec Apple would like to support. Although it's not known for sure whether other new codecs will be pre-installed with QuickTime, Apple wants to make sure that third party codecs like DivX or open source codecs like XViD will work fine on the next version of QuickTime and it is possible that the QuickTime automatic codec updater will include these codecs. It means that when you open a DivX movie, QuickTime will tell you that the codec is missing and will suggest that you download and install it automatically in one click as it is the case for other media players.

Another important feature that Apple may add to the next release of QuickTime is support for the SMIL 2.0 standard. SMIL 2.0 is a language intended to create intelligent videos with links, animations and transition effects. Apple has supported SMIL 1.0 since the release of QuickTime 4.0 but the first version of SMIL is very limited. SMIL 1.0 and SMIL 2.0 are both W3C standards, you can learn more about them here. Support of the 3GPP technology specifications could also be improved along with this addition.

The QuickTime web-browser plug-in is also said to be improved in QuickTime 7.0. Some sources suggested that it would add the possibility to play movies in full screen mode on the free version. I could not reliably determine with recent sources if this feature will be available in the free version and on the player itself, but I think we can expect it as this is information I've been consistently receiving and reporting for a while.

Though not verified, some sources said that Apple would add other features to QuickTime like playlists support and even more integration with iTunes. Also, you may already know that QuickTime has been skinnable since version 5.0. The same sources said that the next version may provide a GUI for managing skins, but again, I'm defenitely not sure about the accuracy of this piece of information

Apple has also been considering porting QuickTime to Linux for a while. Actually, at the moment according to sources, Apple does not think it is urgent to provide a Linux port but it is not out of the question that such a project could start within a year. It all depends on the acceptance of Linux in the business market for desktop use.

As you see, many new features were mentioned for QuickTime 7.0 and it is possible that Apple doesn't add all of them for this new release but wait for QuickTime 7.5 to 8.0 to add the rest of them. It also depends on the development stage of some of these features. We could also see some features progressively added in minor updates, that could happen with the support of SMIL 2.0.

Sources did not provide much release date information for QuickTime but we can speculate on a release along with Tiger late this year or perhaps a bit earlier. A beta version might also be released as soon as on WWDC. An updated SDK, including a Windows version, can also be expected.

Any more precise piece of information or confirm is welcome so don't hesitate to drop a mail if you have something interesting to add.