Best free media players
Apple plugs more flaws in QuickTime
Apple's popular QuickTime media player reinforced its reputation as a security risk with the announcement of five new security flaws in the product. This is on top of the 11 flaws fixed a couple of months ago. Some of these flaws are really serious. All users should upgrade immediately to version 7.5, which can be obtained by using the "software update check" feature in the product, or from here [1].
[1] http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1991
Fixing defective software may be "theft"
Oh, this is a sad story. Someone fixed a broken Creative Audio driver and was then accused by Creative of "Stealing Our Goods." Worse still, it looks like the drivers in question were deliberately not updated by Creative to encourage consumers to buy newer products. Thanks to JW for the links.
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/03/creative-fixing.html
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/daniel_k-who-fi.html
Critical update to Adobe Flash player
Almost everyone has the free Adobe Flash player installed, so you had better read this item carefully. Adobe has advised [1] of seven flaws in its Flash player that could allow someone to take control of your PC simply by visiting a hostile or compromised website. Even Vista systems are affected. The flaws exist in versions 9.0.115.0 of the Flash Player and earlier. The safest option is to go directly to the Adobe site [2] and download and install the latest version 9.0.124.0.
[1] http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb08-11.html
[2] http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash
Top-rated commercial media player now free
As an alternative to a free media player you may wish to consider this free version of the full featured commercial player from J River. J River's Media Jukebox player has been around for a long and has a strong following. In recent times development has switched to their Media Center product, but J River has just updated their Media Jukebox to version 12 and made it available for free. It's audio only, but its feature set and usability are top-rank. Its library management features are outstanding; it syncs to your iPod, has an integrated link to Amazon link for media purchasers and has flexible ripping options for all the most popular formats. Definitely worth checking out. Thanks to subscriber Dick Parker for the find. Freeware, Windows 98-Vista, 12.1MB
http://www.mediajukebox.com/
Best free Windows Media replacement
This updated review was prepared by subscriber Joe Bennett.
It used to be that you needed one program to play MP3 files, another to play streaming media from Real, another to play Mpeg files, and yet another to play QuickTime movies. Then, with the advent of Microsoft's Windows Media Player, many different media types began to be played in one player, but WMP in XP and Vista has become bloated and doesn't work with all of the types of files out there. Then came along WinAmp, which started out as an mp3 player and now does almost everything, but does use up a lot of system resources and can contain adware if you aren't careful on the installation.
Recently, iTunes has become more prevalent on many people's PCs, but it also takes up a lot of resources and is processor intensive. So I have done some major research for an alternative media player, and found some that not only replace the functionality of WMP, WinAmp and iTunes, but exceed them as well.
My personal favorite is Media Player Classic, available for Windows 95 through Vista. MPC looks like the old Windows Media Player v6.4, but that is where the similarity ends. Under the hood, this program packs a lot of features, including codecs for viewing DVD discs, MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4 video files, MP3 and Ogg files. MPC can also use the QuickTime and the RealPlayer architectures (if installed on the computer) to play their native files. If you really want to extend MPC's functionality while avoiding the installation of RealPlayer, WinAmp and QuickTime, download "ffdshow", "Real Alternative", "QuickTime Alternative" and "WinAmp Alternative" packages. They will make sure there will be almost nothing you won't be able to play. MPC is the only product reviewed here that requires no installation on your PC. This means that it can be run from your USB flash drive as well as your hard drive. (Note: There is some dispute over the legality of "Real Alternative and "QuickTime Alternative" codec packs. ffdshow is open source, completely legal, and should cover almost all of your needs.)
Another good choice is VLC Media Player. VLC is available for multiple OSs, including all versions of Windows (98 to Vista), Mac OS X, and many varieties of Linux. Most versions will support playback of most video files and DVD discs without the need to download external codec packs, including flv files, which MPC cannot play. VLC player has another unique feature as well. There are 5 different DVD region codes and DVDs manufactured for one region will not play in players made for a different region. This applies to PC DVD Drives as well... until now. FLV Player plays them all. There is no need for any shady (and possibly illegal) DVD region spoofing programs. This is especially nice if you are an international traveler and want to watch a movie on your laptop outside your country.
Yet another alternative is GOM Player. Available only for Windows (98Se through Vista), it also will play most media files, including flv files with its own internal codecs. If, however, you come across a file it cannot play, it will direct you to the appropriate open source codec to install. The program is a little quirky, though. I tried to play a DVD disc on two different pc's using GOM... On one it would not play it at all (and this was a machine I've been able to play DVD discs on before) while on the other one it played fine. GOM also claims to be able to play broken AVI files, though I did not have one available to try out.
Media Player ClassicDownload site:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84358
Size: 2.12 MB
Supported OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2K, XP, Vista License: Free for private and commercial use
Portability: No installation required. Can be run from a flash drive Additional related software:
ffdshow:
http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/
Real Alternative:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm
QuickTime Alternative:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
WinAmp Alternative:
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Winamp-Alternative-Download-23376.html
VLC Media Player
Download site:
http://www.videolan.org/
Size: 9.28 MB
Supported OS: Windows 98/ME/NT/2k/XP/Vista, OS x, Various Linux distros License: Free for private and commercial use
Portability: Must be installed
GOM Player:
Download Site:
http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html
Size: 4.48 MB
Supported OS: Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, 2003 or Vista License: Free for private and commercial use
Portability: Must be installed
Top Web radio site
Subscriber Mike Day writes. "Hey Gizmo, check out this site [1]. It allows me to program the music I want and takes very little effort. I've tried all sorts of radio sites and even have Sirius in my car. But nothing compares to Slacker!" Nice suggestion, Mike. The range offered is huge and it's really easy to use. It is, however, only for North American users. I see they now offer a matching hand-held "radio". Nice idea but a bit pricey for me.
[1] http://www.slacker.com/
How to stop Flash movies/ads on Web sites playing automatically
I hate it; you visit a website and some unwanted Flash movie starts playing automatically. You can fix this by blocking Flash altogether, but that's cutting off your nose to spite your face. A better solution is to use the free Firefox "Stop Autoplay" extension. It not only stops movies from playing automatically, it also gives you the option of playing them if you wish.
http://hemiolapei.free.fr/divers/sap/sap-en.html
Free audio file tag editor
Graham Smale has emailed to recommend a free audio file tag editor called Mp3Tag. He says "It is excellent and allows for not only tag editing of all the major audio formats (including the insertion of images for CD/book covers) but allows for translating file names to tags and vice versa. It also has a scripting language and a host of pre-created scripts for renaming any tag or filename." Thanks for the suggestion, Graham. The program does look very useful for tidying up my collection of MP3 files into a standard naming format so that my media player can sort them correctly by artist, song, album etc. Freeeware, Windows 2K->Vista, 1,6MB
http://www.mp3tag.de
The best free audio and video file conversion program
The ready availability of audio and video material in digital format has allowed all of us to have access to a huge range of content with an ease and accessibility never before possible.
This wonderful blessing has, however, been tarnished by the proliferation of different audio and digital media formats. The existence of so many formats has meant that seemingly simple tasks, such as transferring a YouTube video to your iPod or making an MP3 file from a DVD soundtrack, can end up being complex tasks, so complex that they become nearly impossible for non technical users.
In response to this situation we have seen the market flooded by expensive commercial media conversion programs, some costing up to $199. The good news is that there are many free media conversion programs available that will do the job just as well as their commercial cousins.
My long-time favorite has been "Super" [1]. It's really no more than a user friendly interface for a variety of command line conversion programs. It has two great strengths: first, it's reasonably easy to use, and secondly it handles a large number of different file formats.
For example, with video files it handles 3gp/3g2 (Nokia, Siemens, Sony, Ericsson), asf, avi (DivX, H263, H263+, H264, Xvid, MPEG4, MSmpeg4, etc), dat, fli, flc, flv (used in Flash), mkv, mpg (Mpeg I, Mpeg II), mov (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4, etc), mp4 (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4), ogg, qt, rm, ram, rmvb, str (Play Station), swf (Flash), ts (HDTV), viv, vob, and wmv. It also handles audio file format conversion including ac3, amr, mp2, mp3, mp4, ogg, ra, wav, and wma.
The download link for Super on the author's site is quite hard to find so I've listed an alternative download site [2].
An alternative to Super is MediaCoder [3]. It has the advantage of being open source and, arguably, is a little easier to use. It doesn't handle some of the formats handled by Super but is being continuously expanded by its authors. iPod and PSP owners will appreciate the special features for these devices that makes usage particularly straight-forward. Not all its features though are available in the free version.
If you are mainly interested in just video conversion then check out "Any Video Converter" [3]. It has a better interface than either Super or MediaCoder and is very fast as well. Input formats include DivX, XviD, MOV, rm, rmvb, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV and AVI. It's set up to make MP4 conversion as simple as possible, but it can handle other output formats if you are prepared to delve into the options.
Thanks to subscribers John Bruinen and Clayton Poole for suggesting MediaCoder.
[1] http://www.erightsoft.net Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 18MB.[2] http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_encoders/super.cfm
[3] http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
[4] http://www.download.com/Any-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-10611989.html
Replacement software for your digital media adaptor
One of the hottest gadgets around at the moment is the Digital Media Adaptor, a box that sits under your TV and allows you to stream video or audio content to your living room from a PC elsewhere in your house. They're available from the likes of Pinnacle, Zyxel, Linksys, Phillips and many others (even an Xbox360 makes a great DMA). Some have built-in hard drives, DVD drives and TV tuners, while others are simply a solid-state box with a network connection (wired and/or wireless) and no moving parts at all.
If you have a large MP3 collection on your main PC and you want to be able to listen to it around the house, perhaps via a decent amplifier and speakers, a DMA is a great device to have. Most of them will also allow you to listen to internet radio stations too.
Many DMA devices are actually nothing more than a cut-down dedicated PC containing a web browser and the necessary decoders to play audio and video. The clever bits all take place on your PC, onto which you need to install some server software. The DMA then connects to the PC in order to browse the video and audio files.
All DMA devices are supplied with their own server software, but if you don't like the way it looks there are plenty of shareware and freeware alternatives. In the case of the Pinnacle Showcenter device, for example, and other devices which use the same chipset, products include Wizd, Simese, Helios Neolink, myihome, oxyl box, tversity, and open showcenter. They're all freely available for download.
I've recently tried all of these, and Wizd is my favorite because it's easy to write your own skins using PHP and HTML. You can make the display on your TV look just how you like. Plus, unlike some of the others, it copes with the situation where your MP3 files and DVD rips are on one machine yet the server software itself runs on another PC on your LAN. Some programs don't. Wizd: Freeware, Win 98->XP plus .NET 2.0 Framework, 3.2MB.
http://wizd.sourceforge.net
Security update for Apple iTunes
A buffer overflow flaw has been discovered in both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes that could allow the host computer to be compromised simply by playing a maliciously crafted media file. Users should upgrade to the latest V7.4 release from here:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
Free utility lets you record screen sessions easily
In issue #141 I covered free utilities like Wink [1] that allow you to make movies of what's happening on your screen. However regular contributor JW has written to point out the virtues of another program called Screen2Exe. As the name implies it creates a movie in the form of an EXE file rather than AVI or SWF and that means you don't have to use a media player to view it. It is also very easy to use and comes with a full set of features including voice and mouse recording, multiple quality settings plus the ability to record only a part of the screen. The vendor also claims that the use of the special SSCV2 codec for compression produces a smaller file size that other codecs. I note though that it does not allow screen annotation. Freeware, Windows 2000-2003, 424KB.
[1] http://www.debugmode.com/wink/
[2] http://www.screen-record.com/screen2exe.htm
You need to update QuickTime and Flash now
Apple have released V7.2 of QuickTime that patches eight serious flaws in the product the worst of which could allow your computer to compromised simply by watching a specially crafted QuickTime movie. More details here [1]. If you QuickTime version number is less than 7.2 then please update from here [2] now. Adobe has also released a patch for its highly popular Macromedia Flash plug-in. This fixes flaws in Flash that, like the QuickTime flaw, could allow your computer to be compromised simply by watching a malicious Flash movie. According to the Adobe bulletin the flaw affects "9.0.45.0 and earlier, 8.0.34.0 and earlier, and 7.0.69.0 and earlier." You can update from here [3]. These flaws are serious folks; please update immediately.
[1] http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798
[2] http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
[3] http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb07-12.html
Threat to your Internet privacy
Most folks have the Macromedia Flash Player installed in their PC but are unaware that it can be a real risk their privacy. For example, Flash's Shared Object technology may allow your browsing to be tracked without cookies. This risk is greatest with older Flash versions but even the latest version is not watertight. I suggest all users make sure they have the latest upgrade [1] and change their Flash security settings to ensure that Flash at least asks for permission before storing information. Full instructions can be found at the Macromedia site [2].
[1] http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash
[2] http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/security/
Modifying your iPod
This page from WikiPedia offers a terrific collection of iPod hacks "to aid users in using their iPod more efficiently, or to customize their product, making it more individual or for novelty purposes."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Hacks
Serious flaw in WinAmp
Nullsoft, the maker of the popular WinAmp media player has released a patch for a serious flaw in versions 5.11 and 5.12 of the player that could allow an attacker to take control of your PC by simply playing specially crafted songs on a WinAmp playlist. There are a number of malicious websites already exploiting this flaw. Anyone running an affected version of WinAmp could have their PC compromised simply by visiting one of these sites. All users of WinAmp should upgrade to V5.13 immediately
http://secunia.com/advisories/18649/
http://www.winamp.com/player/
Holes patched in Apple QuickTime
Apple has released V7.0.4 of QuickTime that fixes five known buffer overflow flaws that could allow Windows and Mac machines to be compromised simply by viewing a specially crafted QuickTime QTIF, TIFF, GIF or TGA file. The new version also includes a number of bug fixes. All users should update immediately by using the "Update Existing Software" option from the Help menu.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303101