We've all come across problems playing videos for one reason or another.
Thankfully, the open source community came up with a solution in the form of
*VLC media player* which plays just about anything. Version 1.1.7 of VLC
media player doesn't actually look that much different from previous versions
of VLC but it does introduce many new features, formats and codecs to the VLC
multimedia framework. It also fixes several major bugs that were in earlier
versions. Firstly, don't be fooled by appearances. VLC media player may look
basic, but it's this simplicity and power to play anything that makes VLC
media player so good. This includes downloading streams from the web. Indeed,
we've often found that where other media players have failed, VLC media
player has always allowed me to stream content quickly and reliably. This is
because VLC media player is so lightweight and doesn't spend as much time
processing images as some players do. If you want to stream your own audio or
video across the net, there's also a useful *streaming wizard* to help get
you going. VLC media player isn't quite as intuitive as *iTunes* when it
comes to media management - it's much more basic and stripped down in that
respect - but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats. And
if VLC media player doesn't recognize the file type it will often try playing
it anyway and will display the scrambled video in its raw form. If you don't
have any media to play, then VLC media player 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 playlist. Click on it to reveal the the
different categories of channels available on VLC media player. Click on the
category you want and a drop down list of all available channels appears.
Just click on the channel you want to watch and streaming should begin almost
immediately. As regards control, VLC media player offers superb *hotkey
support* allowing you to define a key to do anything from taking video
snapshots to skipping tracks. It also features *subtitle support* for all
major subtitle formats and even allows you to *switch languages in the click
of a button*. *Note that all versions of VLC media player compatible with Mac
OS X 10.1 to 10.6 are available here*. The main download link is for the 64
bit Intel version compatible with OS X 10.5 and above. However, you will be
offered download links for older OS X versions when you click the free
download link. Alternatively, you can download older versions at the foot of
this page if you know which one is compatible with your OS. There is not, and
there will never be, a version of VLC media player for Mac OS 9. There's very
little to fault with VLC media player. It's a superb lightweight media player
that will successfully play the most stubborn files where other players
fail.Download *VLC media player 1.1.12* in Softonic
