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At work we have a creative group which produces videos that our sales team uses for powerpoint decks, client presentations, etc. The creative group is mac-based so they produce quicktime files which are unplayable on a Windows PC unless you install Quicktime (which we don't, by default). Quicktime files also don't work very well when you try to embed them into a powerpoint presentation.

We're tired of dealing with video compatibility issues so we want to tell the creative group to produce videos in a more compatible format, but I'm not sure what that should be. I don't really want to tell them to produce windows media video files because that isn't the most compatible format outside Windows. Is there a generic format that Windows 7 can play without the need for any additional software? I was thinking h264 or something similar, but had a tough time finding a definitive list of what Windows supports. What I'm really asking is what would be the best video codec and container that's compatible with Windows 7 out of the box and also compatible with the largest number of other systems?

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Which codecs are included with the Player?
There are hundreds of audio and video codecs in use today. Some have been created by Microsoft, but the vast majority of codecs have been created by other companies, organizations, or individuals. By default, the Windows operating system and the Player include a number of the most popular codecs, such as Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video, and MP3. 

From Microsoft FAQ

Here are the Audio and Video File Types Supported by Windows.

Audio and Video File Types Supported by Windows

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  • That shows files supported by Windows Media Center, which isn't the same as base Windows 7. For instance, base Windows 7 definitely doesn't play Quicktime video, which is on that list.
    – vrtigo1
    Apr 23, 2014 at 18:14
  • even Windows Media Player 12 (that runs all the supported codecs in Windows 7) play Quick Time Video according to Microsoft : support.microsoft.com/kb/316992 support.microsoft.com/kb/190990 Apr 23, 2014 at 19:52

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