.MVB File Extension
Multimedia Viewer Book Source File
Developer | Microsoft |
Popularity |
2.4 | 7 Votes |
What is an MVB file?
An MVB file is a multimedia file format developed by Microsoft to store text, images, audio, and video content. Windows help systems and other applications in early Windows environments, such as Windows 3.x and Windows 95, primarily used MVB files to provide interactive or multimedia-based documentation. MVB files are now mostly obsolete and rarely used in modern applications.
More Information
Microsoft introduced the Multimedia Viewer Book (MVB) file format in the early 1990s as part of its Microsoft Multimedia Viewer platform. This tool allowed developers to create interactive help files, reference materials, and educational content that combined text, images, audio, and video in a single, navigable interface.
Microsoft and third-party developers often included MVB files with software development kits and multimedia applications they produced. The files served as the foundation for rich help systems and documentation before HTML Help and .CHM files became standard. However, as Windows evolved, support for MVB files was phased out, and the format is now considered legacy and unsupported in modern operating systems.
How to open an MVB file
You can open MVB files with Microsoft Multimedia Viewer, a tool included with some versions of Windows and developer kits in the 1990s. However, the program is discontinued.