VLC Media Player is unquestionably the most popular open source video player. Not just limited to Linux—but it’s a must-have video player for every platform (including Windows). It is a quite powerful video player capable of handling a variety of file formats and codecs.
MPlayer is a media player for Windows and various other operating systems working as a free and open source software. This media player is capable of playing variety of formats of media files and can also transform them into other output formats too. You can further improve the functioning of this program via adding a lot of add-ons into it.
Windows Media Player (WMP) is a native video/audio playing software for Windows users. However, with the development of Windows Media Center (WMC) ceased in 2009, you won't see any Windows Media Player update in Windows 8 or Windows 10. As you already know, Windows Media Player lacks compatibility with many frequently-used video and audio formats. What's more, since the release of Windows 8, you can't play DVDs and Blu-rays with it.
Podgrasp 2 1 0 – podcast player. You can purchase a Media Center Pack add-on to continue using Windows Media Player on Windows 10/8, while you might find that a third-party player does a better job for you. Here in this article, we will show you 10 great alternatives to Windows Media Player. You can choose any of the Windows Media Player for Windows 10/8/7 to play media files on your computer.
The media player you must have. Just drop anything to it, MPlayerX will give you a clear and smooth playback. MPlayerX is armed by FFmpeg and MPlayer, which means it could handle any media format in the world without extra plug-ins or codec packages.
10 great Windows Media Player to help you play media/DVD/Blu-ray on Windows
1. Free Media Player - The best Windows Media Player alternative to play various media files
Compared with Windows Media Player, this Free Media Player can play almost all popular video and audio formats like MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, FLV, MP3, FLAC, AAC, WAV, OGG and more on your computer. It is compatible with Windows 10/8/7/XP, so you can easily install and use it on your Windows PC. It supports video resolutions up to 4K UHD. You will get lossless image quality when playing 4K and 1080p HD videos with this Free Media Player.
2. Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player - A professional Windows Media Player alternative to play Blu-ray discs
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player is the best alternative to Windows Media Player. If you want to play DVDs and Blu-rays on your Windows 10/8 or Mac, this powerful media playing software can be your best choice. It highly support any frequently-used video/audio format. Moreover, it enables you to enjoy Blu-ray disc/folder/ISO file, DVD and other 4K UHD/HD/SD videos smoothly on your computer. In addition, it supports DTS-HD and Dolby True HD audio technology to give you home theater audio effects with the best enjoyment.
3. Final Media Player - A more compatible Windows Media Player alternative
Tired of seeing the dreaded 'Windows can't open this file' error message? It's time for Final Media Player to replace the Windows Media Player on your PC. It allows you to play more than 40 types of video formats like MP4, M4V, MKV, MOV, MPEG, MXF, RMVB, FLV, etc. Also, it can help you play 40+ audio formats, such as AAC, AIFF, FLAC, M4A, OGG, WMA, and so on. It can work on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1, both 32-bit and 64-bit.
4. KMPlayer - A Windows Media Player alternative for cross-platform
Mplayerx – Alternative Media Player Pc
KMPlayer (KMP) is an excellent multi-media playback player, which can play different types of contained formats. As a good Windows Media Player alternative, KMPlayer provides different versions separately for Windows, Mac and iOS/Android devices. It is compatible with any media file because KMP has its' own internal Codec. Supported Codec are separated by internal & external.
5. PotPlayer - An alternative for Windows Media Player for Large media file playback
PotPlayer is a free advanced alternative to Windows Media Player. It is an excellent media player that can handle a large variety of media file types. In test, this free PotPlayer can easily play 1.6 GB MOV, 865 MB MKV, or a 1.4 GB AVI file without any issue. It carries a subtitle feature to play .ass and .srt subtitles natively when they are located in the same folder as the video file. There are also many other functions in PotPlayer, you can download it and have a free trial.
6. SMPlayer - Free Windows Media Player alternative
SMPlayer is another free Windows Media Player alternative to help you play all formats on your computer. It doesn't need any external codecs. Just install SMPlayer and you'll be able to play your media files without the hassle to find and install codec packs. It can remember the settings of all files you play. So it can always resume the video/audio you play at the same point you left it, and with the same settings: audio track, subtitles, volume and so on. This ' Windows Media Player' can also play YouTube videos and download subtitles.
7. Zoom Player - Powerful Windows Media Player alternative
Zoom Player is one of the most powerful media players for the Windows PC. It can work as a professional Windows Media Player alternative to help you play any video or audio file on your computer. It can work well with Windows 8/7/XP/Vista PC. All popular video formats are supported in Zoom Player, such as H.264, XVID, DIVX, DVD, FLV, WMV, QuickTime, MPEG 1/2/4, MP3, AAC, DTS, Dolby Digital, FLAC and many more. It offers two versions, Zoom Player Free and Zoom Player Max for you to choose from.
8. VLC Media Player - A great alternative to Windows Media Player
VLC Media Player is another great software that can be considered as a perfect alternative to Windows Media Player. It is totally free to download and install and very easy to use. This free Windows Media Player alternative supports videos and audios in all formats and so there is never any need for downloading codec. It is equipped with a playlist function to allow you to play different media files one after the other.
9. MediaMonkey - A various function Windows Media Player alternative to play music
Dvdfab all in one 11 0 7 5 torrent. MediaMonkey is designed with various functions. It can manage 100,000+ music and video files without bogging down, record CDs and download music, movies, and podcasts, lookup and intuitively tag album art, lyrics and other metadata and more. It is a so powerful media playing software which comes with a comprehensive system of managing the library with the integrated library management tools. But it may be a little bit difficult to play video files on your computer. It is the best Windows Media Player alternative to help you play music files.
10. Wondershare Player - A popular Windows Media Player alternative
Wondershare Player is one popular media player for Windows and Mac users. If you can't play DVDs with Windows Media Player 12/11/10 on your computer, you can use this great alternative to Windows Media Player to do that for you. It has the capability to play MKV, WMV, MPEG, AVI and many more formats in high quality. And it supports virtually any audio format: MP3, WMA, M4A, AAC, FLAC, etc. Compared with Windows Media Player, VLC, RealPlayer and others, it takes less time to start up Wondershare Player and open a media file.
Can't play DVDs and Blu-rays with Windows Media Player? Can't use Windows Media Player any more on your Windows 10/8 computer? We list 10 great alternatives to Windows Media Player to help you play media files on PC or Mac. You can select your preferred one from these recommended Windows Media Player alternatives as you like.
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December 16, 2020 09:30 / Updated by Jenny Ryan to Player
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VLC media player can play pretty much any video format a user throws at it. It's an essential application for Windows, Mac and Linux users. But RealNetworks keeps its RealVideo and RealAudio codecs locked down, and VLC won't handle them. Don't give up and install the invasive and irritating RealPlayer just for that one .rmv file. Check out these cross-platform RealMedia alternatives instead.
RealHistory
Formed in 1995 as Progressive Networks, with the original goal of becoming a web based distribution channel for politically progressive content, the Seattle based company was one of the early pioneers of online streaming media. In September 1997, the company renamed RealNetworks and focused on pushing its proprietary RealAudio and later, RealVideo file formats hard before and during the first dot-com bubble, requiring users to install the RealPlayer media player. Though RealNetworks saw initial success in the streaming media market, other file formats that did not require RealPlayer became standard; Microsoft relentlessly pushed its own proprietary Windows Media Audio format, the mp3 file format is now often used for audio streaming, and Apple's proprietary QuickTime .mov file format and Adobe's proprietary Flash format video containers (like those on YouTube) are now standard streaming formats for video.
RealCrapware
While RealMedia file formats are no longer standard, users will sometimes find .rm audio or .rmv video files, usually in torrents or on peer to peer networks. Unfortunately, these file formats are still proprietary, officially requiring the RealPlayer media player to handle them. This is bad news since RealPlayer has been widely criticized as being ad-riddled, invasive and difficult to remove, and additionally violating users' privacy and file handling preferences. RealPlayer is so bad that it was named the second worst tech product of all time by PC World (AOL was #1). Fortunately, open standard enthusiasts have reverse engineered RealMedia formats and have made codec packages available as an alternative. Users need not install the rather regressive RealPlayer to play the occasional .rmv file.
MPlayer is compatible with many different Linux flavors, and has dozens of skins for users to choose from.
MPlayer
MPlayer is a GPL licensed media player that will run on Windows, Mac OS X and various flavors of Linux. Alone, it natively handles the open standard matroska .mkv file format, commonly used for the increasing number of HD video files available in torrents. To play RealMedia files, users will need to install the binary codec packages available about halfway down the MPlayer download page. MPlayer can be used in conjunction with any of dozens of GUI skins available on the MPlayer download page, so users will likely find an interface with which they are comfortable and familiar.
Real Alternative
Mplayerx – Alternative Media Player Free
Real Alternative is a Windows only solution. I include it here because the 'lite' version does not require a separate player, as MPlayer's codec package does, but instead installs codecs that can be used by the user's preferred player, and a plugin for IE and Firefox/Opera/Chrome to handle streaming media. If the user so chooses, however, the standard Real Alternative package includes the GPL licensed Media Player Classic.
Armed with these open source alternatives, users can eliminate the nasty RealPlayer from their systems entirely, and sleep easier at night knowing they are supporting open standards based software.