If you want to play *video* or *music* files in just about any format, *VLC
media player* is probably your answer. VLC media player is the most
successful free open source multimedia player out there with over 500 million
downloads according to the developers. In particular, VLC media player is a
great alternative to *Windows Media Player*, *iTunes*, and *RealPlayer*. It's
lightweight, fast, easy to use and most importantly, plays almost anything.
It's been two and a half years since version 1.0 was released and version 2
("Twoflower") brings a new interface, faster decoding, support for more
formats and the ability to play HD and BluRay. It still remains however the
most stable, flexible and lightweight audio and video player around today.
While other media players will play unusual formats after downloading a
codec, or simply refuse to play things, VLC media player handles tons of
formats, from *MPEG* to *FLV* and *RMBV* files. Version 2 has seen some
important additions too such as support for 10 bit codes plus multi-threaded
decoding for H.264, MPEG-4/Xvid and WebM. Also useful is the fact that you
can use VLC media player to preview files you are downloading since it plays
incomplete parts of video files. VLC media player is not just for video
playback however. It also offers superb integration with video channel
streaming services such as Channels.com giving you access to channels such as
*ESPN, Reuters and National Geographic*. Just right-click or CMD-click on the
playlist, select *Services Discovery* and *Channels.com*. Channels.com will
then appear in your VLC media player playlist. Click on it to reveal the the
different categories of channels available. Click on the category you want
and a drop down list of all available channels appears in VLC media player.
Just click on the channel you want to watch and streaming should begin almost
immediately. VLC media player also has great hotkey support and if you take
the time to learn the shortcuts so it can be controlled without touching your
mouse. If you're watching DVDs or video files through it, this is not an
issue. For music, it plays more or less any file and features an equalizer
and playlist creation. VLC media player isn't as intuitive as *iTunes* as a
media manager, but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats.
You can even use VLC to convert your files, and on top of all the formats and
physical media it will play, many streaming protocols and TV capture cards
are supported. VLC media player makes it easy to add *subtitles* to your
video files too - just add the *SRT* file to the folder where your video is
kept, and it will automatically play with subtitles. Finally, the interface
has been somewhat improved in version 2 although it remains strictly
functional. However, you can download skins to completely change VLC media
player's appearance. The preferences menu is comprehensive without being
overwhelming, and there is extensive documentation online. Don't forget to
check out some of our blog posts such as VLC media player v KMPlayer, How to
rotate a video with VLC media player, How to sync audio with video in VLC
media player and How to use subtitles with VLC media player. *VLC Media
Player is quite simply the best application multimedia application for
Windows and Mac. It plays just about anything with the minimum of fuss - what
more could you need?*Download *VLC media player 2.0.0* in Softonic
