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VideoLAN's VLC media player, arguably the world's best media player, hit version 0.9.9 in early April. Three months and more than 78 million downloads later, VideoLAN has announced VLC 1.0.0, or "Goldeneye."
Your media will never be the same.
In fact, with VideoLAN's VLC media player for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it doesn't have to be. One of the amazing things about VLC is that it can play anything that you've ever even thought about playing. That random media format that one site in Ecuador requires--VLC likely plays it, while Windows Media, Apple QuickTime, etc. likely will not.
This is, in part, a natural result of VLC's open-source heritage. Licensed under the GNU General Public License, VLC attracts a diverse array of developers with disparate media interests. Those interests translate into a media player that really can play every obscure media format I've ever thrown at it. (And in my hunger for Arsenal videos, I've found many different video formats that Windows Media, Apple QuickTime, etc. didn't know what to do with.)
Here are a few of the features now available in VLC 1.0.0:
- Live recording
- Instant pausing and frame-by-frame support
- Finer speed controls
- New HD codecs (AES3, Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD, Blu-ray Linear PCM, Real Video 3.0 and 4.0, ...)
- New formats (Raw Dirac, M2TS, ...) and major improvements in many formats
- New Dirac encoder and MP3 fixed-point encoder
- Video scaling in full screen
- RTSP Trickplay support
- Zipped file playback
- Customizable toolbars
- Easier encoding GUI in Qt interface
- Better integration in Gtk environments
- MTP devices on Linux
- AirTunes streaming
I regularly use VLC to transcode media files, including files I originally streamed from the Web:
VLC can transcode virtually any media file.
(Credit: Matt Asay)If you don't have VLC, I encourage you to download it and give it a try. It really is an amazing media player, one that has far more tricks up its sleeve than the proprietary media player that came with your computer.
Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.
Going from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is relatively straightforward. So one might think that moving from a pre-release version of Windows 7 to the final version would also be simple.
One would be wrong.
That's because the upgrade versions of the Windows operating system (the cheapest way to move to the final version) check for a previous, non-test version of Windows on the drive. That means, if a user did a clean installation of Windows 7 on their test system (as recommended by Microsoft), that same user will have to back up their data, reinstall their original operating system (XP or Vista), then install Windows 7, restore their data, and then reinstall their applications.
For testers who were running XP, that means doing a clean installation of Windows XP over their Windows 7 test build and then a clean installation of Windows 7 over that. Vista users have the option of reinstalling that operating system and then doing an in-place upgrade or a clean installation of Windows 7.
Testers looking to move from a test version of Windows 7 to the final product may find the move not only costly, but time consuming.
(Credit: Microsoft)Microsoft says that, for what it's worth, that's roughly the same thing that was required for those moving from pre-release versions of Windows Vista to the final release.
Even so, it's an unfortunate burden for those who have provided lots of feedback and indeed been some of the operating system's biggest champions. Users were also pushed to do a fresh installation when moving from Windows 7 beta to the latest test version, although some users found ways around having to do this.
It's just one of several scenarios in which users may find getting to Windows 7 to be a tricky proposition. In general, most people get Windows through buying a new PC. But there are still plenty of folks who decide to update their existing machines.
That's proving to be tricky, not just for testers, but also for people who want to upgrade their Netbooks. That's because such machines, by their nature, don't come with a DVD drive. However, a source says Microsoft is considering offering Windows 7 via flash drive--a move that could make that upgrade easier.
Microsoft is also trying to lower the other barrier to those moving from a test version to the final Windows 7--the cost. The software maker has a limited promotion--through July 11 in the U.S.--that lets people buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 for as low as $49.
As for those who haven't been testing Windows 7, Microsoft notes that the upgrade version of Windows 7 just looks for a copy of Windows XP or Vista, so users don't need to find their original system discs. It should be able to tell by looking at the hard drive.
Users can also use the upgrade as a chance to move to a higher-end or lower-end version of Windows. To move from Windows Vista Home Basic, for example, to Windows 7 Home Premium, a user need buy only the upgrade version of Windows 7. Likewise, one could move from Windows XP Home to Windows 7 Professional just by purchasing that upgrade version.
Moving down in versions is also possible, say from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Professional. However, with any downgrade, a clean installation is required.
Microsoft on Monday warned of a vulnerability in its Video ActiveX Control that could allow an attacker to take control of a PC if the user visits a malicious Web site.
There have been limited attacks exploiting the hole, which affects Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Microsoft said on its Security Response Center blog.
This is the second DirectShow security hole Microsoft has announced in the past few months. The company has yet to provide a security update for a vulnerability announced in May that involves the way DirectX handles QuickTime files.
Since there are no by-design uses for the ActiveX Control within Internet Explorer, Microsoft is recommending that users implement a workaround outlined in the security advisory. Customers can automatically implement the workaround by following the instructions under "Fix It For Me" in the Knowledge Base article for advisory number 972890 on the Microsoft support site.
Asked to explain what is meant by "no by-design uses," Christopher Budd, Security Response Communications lead, said: "In older operating systems like Windows XP that were originally developed under older programming methodologies, this ActiveX control was enabled for use within Internet Explorer by default to allow for possible future uses. These uses never materialized and as part of the more stringent security requirements that Windows Vista was developed under, this control was later disabled for use within Internet Explorer."
Even though Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are not affected by the vulnerability, Microsoft is recommending that users of those products also use the workaround.
Microsoft is working on a security update and will release it when the quality is at the appropriate level for broad distribution, the company said.
The Microsoft Video Control object is an ActiveX control that connects Microsoft DirectShow filters for use in capturing, recording, and playing video. The control is the main component used in Windows Media Center for building filter graphs for recording and playing television video.
When it is used in IE, the control can corrupt the system state in such a way that arbitrary code could be run by an attacker. If the user is logged in with administrative rights, the attacker could take complete control of the system.
Antivirus vendor Symantec said it was seeing the flaw being exploited in China and other parts of Asia and cited reports that indicate thousands of Web sites are hosting the exploit.
Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 are at risk, but people running IE 8 are not vulnerable, Symantec said.
Updated July 7 8:25 a.m. PDT with Microsoft explanation of "by-design," and July 6 at 11:45 a.m. PDT with background on a previous DirectShow hole and more details on exploits of the most recent hole.
Although Windows 7 won't go on sale until October, Microsoft is actually slated to be done with the code that ships on those first PCs within a couple of weeks.
Some enthusiast sites are predicting that Microsoft will peg the release-to-manufacturing date of Windows 7 to July 13, the start of the company's Worldwide Partner Conference. A report on GeekSmack.net suggests that Microsoft will finish the OS by the 13th and post the software to its MSDN and TechNet developer sites shortly thereafter.
(Credit: Microsoft)Although the timing would certainly be convenient, it's also the case that Microsoft is primarily focused on making sure it has stamped out any last-minute bugs.
Microsoft said when it announced the October ship date for Windows 7 that it would have to finalize the code and get it to computer makers by the second half of July.
To meet that goal, Microsoft is no doubt doing long-term regression testing on any builds it thinks could be the final one.
Another Windows 7 date to keep in mind is July 11. That's when Microsoft plans to end a preorder program through which people can buy an upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium for $49 or Windows 7 Professional for $99. The software maker has also said that preorders could end earlier if it hits a predetermined sales level, although it hasn't said how many copies it is willing to sell.
The preorder program has been a hit on Amazon, where the Home Premium upgrade remains the top seller in both the software section as well as the overall "computers and add-ons" category.
Kolonists looks and plays a lot like the boardgame classic 'Settlers of Catan.'
Good news for fans of the board game Settlers of Catan: There's an app for that. Specifically, the new iPhone game Kolonists offers decidedly Settlers-like gameplay.
In other words, it's a strategy game of empire-building for 3 to 4 players. (If you've never heard of Settlers, check out the Wired story, Monopoly Killer: Perfect German board game redefines genre.)
Like Settlers, Kolonists unfolds on an island, which here fills in for Roman Empire-era Rome. Your goal is to rise to power by developing and capturing territories, which involves resource-gathering, trading, bribery, and some inevitable plundering.
Unlike Settlers, Kolonists plays without dice. That reduces the "chance" aspects of the gameplay while increasing the strategic elements--and makes the game go quite a bit faster.
Settlers die-hards may object to that change, but it's a safe bet that if you like the board game, you'll like Kolonists. And if you're new to both, you'll find the latter thoroughly engaging. After the initial learning curve, it's easy to play and endlessly entertaining. Love the grandiose soundtrack, too.
Unfortunately, version 1.0 has a few significant issues, most notably the lack of a save-game feature: If you exit for any reason, you can't resume.
Making matters worse, Kolonists is fairly crash-prone. Imagine the aggravation of investing, say, 20 minutes in a game when poof, it unceremoniously quits on you--and you can't even return to where you left off.
According to the developer, Kolonists 1.1 is already under review in the App Store, bringing with it an auto-save feature, crash fixes, faster AI, and various new gameplay options.
It can't get here soon enough. With those tweaks and fixes, Kolonists will undoubtedly rank as one of the best strategy games ever to appear on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Grab it now, while it's still at the "introductory" price of $1.99.
Preorder two copies of the Windows 7 upgrade, then sell one later to recoup all your costs.
(Credit: Microsoft)By now you've undoubtedly heard the news: Until July 11 (or while supplies last), you can preorder the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99.
After the deal expires, that same upgrade will cost you $119.99. Needless to say, if you're interested in Windows 7, now's the time to buy.
My advice: buy two. Then, after Windows 7 ships (on October 22), turn around and sell your spare copy for $100. Obviously that's $20 less than the list price, meaning you should have no trouble moving it on eBay, Craigslist, or wherever.
At the same time, you recoup 100 percent of your investment and get Windows 7 to boot (literally).
Risky? A gamble? Perhaps, but to this day upgrade copies of Vista are selling on eBay for $100 and more. And that's two years later. The only real downside is that you're out $100 for about four months. Worth it? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, keep in mind that if you're a Windows XP user, there's no automated way to upgrade your system to Windows 7--not without wiping your hard drive. (Vista users, however, can upgrade directly.)
That means you'll need to back up your drivers, data, and the like, install Windows 7, restore your stuff, reinstall your applications, etc. It's a hassle, but in the end you'll have an outta-the-box-fast PC with a spiffy new OS.
And a free one at that.
In addition to new features such as support for HTML 5, geo-location, and a noticeably faster engine, Firefox 3.5 added a new CSS rule that makes Web typography much more attractive.
@font-face is a CSS rule that allows Web designers to reference fonts not installed on end-user machines. Just as you would have a pointer to a server-based stylesheet or JavaScript file in your Web page code, you can now make reference to a hosted typeface.
You'll note that news sites such as CNET News and NYTimes.com are optimized to make Web type more readable and as stylish as possible, but there are many design possibilities via additional downloadable typefaces. (As with any linked asset, there is some level of security risk if a hacker gets their hands on the font file.)
Mozilla's John Daggett explains: Within a stylesheet, each @font-face rule defines a family name to be used, the font resource to be loaded, and the style characteristics of a given face such as whether it's bold or italic. Firefox 3.5 only downloads the fonts as needed, so a stylesheet can list a whole set of fonts of which only a select few will actually be used.
This function is something I would have expected to be commonplace by now (Safari began supporting it in Version 3.1 and Opera in Version 10) but neither have the market share to drive usage the way Firefox and Internet Explorer do. (Note: this function doesn't work in IE.)
Generally speaking, the Web browser has done a terrible job with type. We've been stuck with old standbys such as Helvetica or Times New Roman, and don't forget the oft-loathed Comic-Sans and other delightful Microsoft fonts that are often easy to read but lack any real style (Verdana, for example.)
... Read moreDocuments To Go (with and without support for Microsoft Exchange attachments) is one of our favorite applications for turning your iPhone into a home office. But it's not anywhere near complete and it has some formidable competition in the form of Quickoffice Mobile Suite, another premium offering.
If you're in the market for a document editor and creator, this video will give you a peep at what Documents To Go can offer in its first application release.
(Credit: CNET)How long does it take you to sync your iPhone? I have the 16GB 3G, about 9GB of music, almost 2GB of apps, and about 60 photos. My "Other" category shows up as more than 2GB (!) in iTunes, but that might be worthy of a separate post. In any case, from start to finish, syncing my iPhone on my Windows PC (it's where my music library is) takes almost an hour. A lot of that time is spent backing up or transferring purchases, but it just doesn't seem right that it should take that long.
A friend of mine uses his Mac for syncing his iPhone and he says it takes less than 10 minutes. Please let me know in the comments how long it takes you to sync your iPhone and what type of system you're using. Any tips for speeding up the process would be greatly appreciated by me and anyone else who suffers the same problem. Now, on to this week's apps!
This week's apps include a new (to me) news feed aggregator and a brand-new game from Freeverse that's on sale for a limited time.
Headlines and descriptions make it easy to find the stories you want to read.
(Credit: CNET)Fluent News (free) is a recent discovery for me and well worth the download if you're looking for a better way to get your news. Fluent News grabs exclusively mobile news content from all the top news sources including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and CNN. Unfortunately, the app is primarily U.S.-centric so international users won't get the news they're looking for. But among the news apps available for iPhone, this one just might be the best I have seen yet.
The interface is easy to use, with tabs across the bottom for Top News stories and sections organized by category. But the layout is what makes Fluent News a standout app. Each story has the headline, which source the news came from, related stories, and a brief description of the story (like many desktop RSS readers). Even better, all the news stories are in mobile format so they're easy to read in the app's included browser. If you find a story you want to share, you can easily post the link to Twitter or Facebook, once you connect to your accounts in the settings menu. Overall, Fluent News is the best free newsreader I've found so far, and it's definitely worth a free download.
Hitting an ammo dump with a grenade or rocket launcher results in impressive explosions.
(Credit: CNET)Warpack Grunts (99 cents for a limited time) lets you command a squad of four tiny soldiers for shoot-'em-up action in a top-down perspective. Touch the screen to move your squad around the map and double tap to fire your weapons. A few early tutorial missions help you get accustomed to the control system and the different weapons you'll find in the game. As you progress through missions, the game gets harder with more enemy squads to battle and other dangers like snipers and mounted machine guns. As an added bonus, you can play this game in landscape or portrait mode--Warpack Grunts easily switches views on the fly.
Warpack Grunts, like many titles from Freeverse, offers comedy relief with funny voices and sounds to keep the game lighthearted while remaining challenging. There are several items to find in the game like rocket launchers and sniper rifles, along with items that replace downed units (to bring your squad back to four) and increase your health. The missions are quite difficult later in the game and offer unique challenges to keep the game interesting. You can also choose the Zombie Survival gametype to blow away wave after wave of shambling undead. With a ton of missions to explore and the extra game type, Warpack Grunts is definitely worth more than the introductory price, so grab this one while it's still cheap.
What's your favorite iPhone app? Do you have a better newsreader than Fluent News? How long can you last in Zombie Survival mode? Got a secret way to make iPhone syncing faster? Let me know in the comments!
There's a temptation to mock people who still talk about Winamp, and its true that AOL gave up its industry-leading position to Apple without a fight. However, the past few years have seen Winamp reinvent itself as a jukebox for those who haven't been bitten by the iTunes bug, and the latest version introduces the proprietary song-scrobbler Orgler.
Orgler scrobbles music to give AOL Music some Web 2.0 flair, finally.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)Much like Last.fm's scrobbling, Orgler sends your music data up to the cloud. Also like Last.fm, it allows members of the AOL/Winamp community to contribute their played songs to a list of what's been on their stereos. Tracks get added to your AOL Music page, and since the service is a Winamp-designed plug-in, it integrates seamlessly and users should find none of the sluggish behavior that occasionally afflicts third-party Last.fm plug-ins. Orgler was originally available in beta as an external Winamp plug-in.
To set up the service, go to Online Services under the Media Library tab. Go to the second page of the site that opens in the built-in browser, and activate Winamp Charts. Log in with your Winamp or AOL log-in--your AOL IM log-in will work, too--and you'll be all set to Orgle.
Seeing as how there's been Last.fm support for Winamp for ages Orgler is more about not sending listeners elsewhere for their music community needs than dragging Winamp users into the present. Still, Orgler's not a bad service.
Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes Download.com.
