Oct 10 2006
Video Players
rev. 18 January 2008
Media Player Classic- License: Open Source
- Description: Based on the old version of Windows Media Player, this media player is a stripped down, resource-light program. It is included with the K-Lite Codec Pack or the Quicktime/RealPlayer Alternatives, but I’ve included it here as a standalone download.
VideoLan Client- License: Open Source
- Description: VideoLan is a small, versatile media player that can play a wide variety of formats, including stuff you’ve probably never even heard of, both video and audio, streaming and local. It uses its own included codecs to play all media, so external dependencies are never a problem. It’s also skinnable and includes a browser plugin (which I have not yet gotten to work).
KMPlayer- License: Freeware
- Description: No relation to the KDE frontend for MPlayer, KM Player, or KMP, is a DirectShow-based player for Windows that supports a wide variety of formats. It’s skinnable and lightweight, and has some really nifty features. Its website is partly in Korean; it might be more efficacious for English speakers, then, to download it at Softpedia
MPlayer- License: Open Source
- Description: MPlayer was originally just a media player for POSIX systems, but continuing in its mission to play on a wide variety of architectures and operating systems, it is being ported to Windows. A wide variety of Windows front-ends can be found here.
Miro- License: Open Source
- Description: Miro (formerly Democracy Player) is a conglomeration of a bunch of different ideas: it’s a video player (VLC-based) with built-in bittorrent and RSS capabilities, essentially all tied together for the purpose of watching internet television.