I just tried to play a .mov file on my Windows Media player and it worked. BUT I do have the codec pack "CCCP" installed which works like a translator and makes WMP recognize a lot of stuff. But my favorite video player is "Media Player Classic".
Here is a tutorial that will show you how to play .mov files and almost any audio or video format on your computer without having to install 100 different players.
http://www.cleartechinfo.com/Learn-How-To-Hear-View-Audio-Video-File-Windows-PC