A method and apparatus for launching a multimedia player from an operating windowing application such that the multimedia player operates as a child window of the operating windowing application. The method and apparatus operate to launch the multimedia player in response to a user-selection of a predefined function in the operating windowing application, identify a main window within the operating windowing application from which the predefined function was selected, locate, within the main window, a target child window having both a specific class-type and a specific dimension, create, in the case that the child window is located, a playback window and overlaying the playback window onto the target child window, and play, within the playback window, a multimedia selection corresponding to the user-selected predefined function.