There are several excellent freeware video playback programs out there, and VLC media player is one of the best. Made by "those VLC folks," or VideoLAN as they prefer to be called, the wildly popular open-source player now offers a slightly better experience than before for both Windows and Mac.
VLC's new interface is cleaner, but watch out for a short delay on the pause button.
(Credit: CNET Networks)VLC will now cooperate with Last.fm, there's direct playback of video URLs, and, unexpectedly, a lot of attention has been given to how VLC interacts with the Internet. Users will find VLC to be more secure, with options for strictly regulating Internet usage through the player including album art lookup.
The interface overall has undergone an overhaul. It's similar enough in layout so that nothing major should be hard to find, but the UI basically looks like Mom came in and swept it clean. There's much less clutter than before. However, I also noticed a bit of sluggishness in response time when pressing the pause button.
The full list of changes is available on the VLC "What is cool in 0.9" page.
Note: Last.fm is owned by CNET's parent company, CBS Interactive.
Along with VLC and the KMPlayer, GOM Media Player's support for a wide range of file formats has helped it stand out as a firm favorite. A pop-out playlist can save and organize your various media files, though the limited sort modes--two--hardly makes it a champ.
More impressive are the customizable settings on the control panel. Here you can adjust a video's image brightness, hue, and saturation. There's no preview window, and changes occur as the video runs, so unless you care for a rousing session of trial and error, be sure to tweak the settings after clicking "play." There's also a built-in screen-capture feature that includes zooming and panning, customizable themes, hot keys, a host of preset and adjustable audio controls, and the patented ability to play broken AVI files.
GOM is weakest when you're looking for help documentation and trying to tweak Save settings, but overall it's a strong player worth at least a supporting role in your video-watching habits, if not top billing.
When it comes to video files, nothing is ever as easy as it should be. Thankfully, VLC media player offers a one-stop solution to the file-format and codec problem for Windows, Mac, and thumbdrives with a portable version. The open-source program supports playback of OGG, MP2, MP3, MP4, DivX, DVD, and what seems like thousands of other file types. In addition, it also can function as a streaming media server.
Though the interface varies from platform to platform, the sparseness of the standard version leaves plenty to be desired. Some skins perks things up slightly, but the program seems to suffer from unpredictable behavior when under new facades. Also, the basic task of opening a file is far more confusing than it should be. The program gives you several options, including the head-scratching Quick Open File. We prefer the straightforward, good ol' drag-and-drop. Overall, though, VLC Media Player is a must-have application for its capability to open just about any type of video file you give it.
Free FLV Player
(Credit: CNET Networks)Sometimes, you just don't need the whole enchilada. Freeware video players like The KMPlayer, GOM Player, VLC Player, and others are excellent at what they do and are generally lightweight, but they look like top-heavy refrigerators compared with these nimble and zippy yet similarly named Flash players. But are Free FLV Player, FLV Player, Riva FLV Player, and BitComet FLV Player all the same, or does one pull ahead of the pack?
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The field of freeware media players that claim support for most or all playback formats out there is growing. GOM, VLC, and KMPlayer tend to top people's lists. KMPlayer is perhaps the least known of the three, but if you haven't toyed around with the level of customization that it offers, you're missing out.
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Social-networking manager Flock has really proven that there's a strong interest in browsers customized for specific users. The tools that it comes with are well-suited to helping people who spend their days navigating those networks. Songbird is the hatchling of Firefox and iTunes, a Flock for music lovers.
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