QuickTime offers two methods of watching video via the web: progressive downloads and streams.

The progressive download method caches the entire video on your hard drive, and does not begin playing until the video has been sufficiently downloaded, in order to prevent interruptions in playback. This method
ensures high quality playback regardless of the speed of your Internet connection. It also allows you to save the video to your hard drive. This method is usually preferred for prerecorded, finite videos.

The streaming method begins playing almost immediately, at the expense of quality. This method does not save the video to your hard drive, and is usually preferred for live video, or 24/7 broadcasting.

Prior to version 2.2.0.49, Flip4Mac WMV Player gave users the option to treat streams coming from a web server normally, or as progressive downloads. There are inherent differences between QuickTime streaming and Windows Media streaming, which cause situations where the two do not work well together.

Many users reported problems when viewing streams with Flip4Mac WMV Player, which could be prevented by switching to the progressive download method. In order to provide users with the best experience possible, as of version 2.2.0.49, progressive download is now the default method.

Advanced users that wish to enable the streaming method can use the Flip4Mac Utility application to turn the "Create Streaming Movies" option on or off. For the best viewing experience, "Creating Streaming Movies" should only be enabled in situations where it is needed, and turned off again afterwards.