Media Players by Platform
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Another open-source classic utility from SourceForge.net. Now a mature product, it's simply the easiest, most predictable and versatile free media player currently available.

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Windows Media Player Versions 6.4, 7.1, 8.0,and 9.0 Beta. The safest bet for .MP3's are still versions 6.4 and 7.1. Version 7.1 has the advantage of being both ID3 V1 and V2 aware, as well as being able to decode embedded ID3 Tagged images as well. For Golden Age Radio, try to avoid Media Player 8.0 or 9.0 Beta unless you equip it with the necessary plugins. See more on the Plug-ins page. Note: Version 9.0 is recommended only for the Windows XP Platform, though you can download and use it on both WindowsMe and Windows 2000. You won't see a link for Version 8.0 here. Windows Media Player 8.0 is NOT FREE. It's only available with Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional.
We can't overstate this: do NOT employ ANY Microsoft Windows Media Player as your default media player if you can possibly avoid it. Microsoft's Windows Media Player Team has demonstrated for the last five versions of Windows Media Player that they cannot be trusted. No matter what you set your preferences to when intalling Windows Media Player it will claim ALL of your computer's media settings as its own. And indeed, no matter what you set as your preferences during initial setup, Microsoft's Windows Media Player will ignore ALL of them and set itself just as the Windows Media Player Team designed it to--irrespective of your wishes. Avoid ANY Microsoft Media Player like the plague if you can. As a last resort, both Safari and Chrome can play almost anything that Microsoft Windows Media Player can play--and without cheating you or lying to you in the process.
This is abhorent behaviour by ANY software package, least of all from the largest manufacturer of software in the world. The Microsoft Windows Media Player Team should be horsewhipped for their supreme arrogance and deceit.

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Apple QuickTime ,Versions 4.x, 5.x, 6.01 and 7.x. Equipped with the right plugins and codecs, QuickTime versions 5.x and 6.01 can play .MP3's directly from your Browser windows while still viewing the content on the page being browsed. As corporate software, Quicktime will stealthily install itself as the default for both browsing and media playing choices--without your permission.

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VideoLAN's VLC Media Player quite simply does it all. Another open-source, standards-based free media player, VLC is available for virtually every computer platform presently in use. You'll also want to investigate their free x264 encoder/decoder here for h.264/AVC support.

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realONE Player, for Windows. Only realONE is currently available--with support. If you can still find it, or have it, the pre-RealPlayer Plus version of RealPlayer, the RealPlayer Standard Editions is your safest bet if you simply have to use it. Easily the most invasive, privacy-threatening--and difficult to protect one's privacy from-with even the most aggressive Browser, Plug-in, and registry settings, but it can be done. But even the best tweaking can't totally prevent Real Networks from following your online movements completely. Their 'phone-home' reporting structures are hardwired right into the players and plugins.
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Legacy RealPlayers. Here's a link to the safer ones. Took some navigating to find them, but if you have to use RealPlayer, these are your safest bets. You'll see all sorts of disclaimers on their pages about no supporting any of these. Embrace that thought as you download them. (As in "Please, Not The Briar Patch!") |
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WinAmp 5.0. In their own words, 'Winamp is a lifestyle. It is freestyle. Give me a word. Versatility? Yeah. Visionary? Of course. Community? Now you're talking.' I guess that about sums it up. But this is an all-time favorite with many of us, and for good reason. Its highly extensible, with skins and plugins and codecs (coder/decoder add-ons), and its both genuinely free AND non-invasive.
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AudioGlaxy.com
A very comprehensive additional source of MP3 Software and resources |

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QuickTime, for the Mac and PowerPC, based on OpenDoc, produced by Apple, for the Apple. Optimized for the Apple platform and renders absolutely stunning audio and graphics on any Apple platform.
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realONE Player, for Mac OS 9. Only realONE is currently available--with support. If you can still find it, or have it, the pre-RealPlayer Plus version of RealPlayer, the RealPlayer Standard Editions is your safest bet if you simply have to use it. Easily the most invasive, privacy-threatening--and difficult to protect one's privacy from-with even the most aggressive Browser, Plug-in, and registry settings, but it can be done. But even the best tweaking can't totally prevent Real Networks from following your online movements completely. Their 'phone-home' reporting structures are hardwired right into the players and plugins. |
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Legacy RealPlayers. For the Mac. Here's a link to the safer ones. Took some navigating to find them, but if you have to use RealPlayer, these are your safest bets. You'll see all sorts of disclaimers on their pages about no supporting any of these. Embrace that thought as you download them. (As in "Please, Not The Briar Patch!")
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Windows Media Player 7.1 for Mac: Apple Mac OS 8.1 or later (Mac OS 8.6 or later recommended) and for the PowerPC 603e 180 MHz or higher processor.
Windows Media Player for Mac OS X. Carbonized for version 10.1 of Apple’s newest operating system. Sporting a new Aqua interface and with full support for the industry-leading Windows Media Technologies, this new version of our player opens the world of Windows Media content to Macintosh users. (Oh Boy, Oh Boy.)
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WinAmp for Mac (Alpha). Winamp has mysteriously and without any explanation removed all references to their Mac versions from their site. Download both existing versions here:
Mac Classic version
Mac ALPHA 0.71 version
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realONEPlayer, for selected UNIX/Linux platforms. RealNetworks has provided this software at the request of customers in the UNIX community. In addition, RealNetworks does not guarantee functionality, maintenance, upgrades, fixes, or suitability for any purpose. This software is not formally supported by RealNetworks. However, a special public forum has been provided by RealNetworks to give users of these products a place to share their thoughts and experiences. |
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Windows Media Player 6.3 for Solaris. Offers Solaris users Windows Media audio and video quality, ensuring the success of any corporate streaming application and superior playback of consumer content. |
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QuckTime 4 Linux. Be aware of one thing: Quicktime for Linux won't read any of the movies you download from the internet. Quicktime is a wrapper for many different kinds of compression formats. What you knew as "Quicktime 4" and now "Quicktime 5" is really a distribution of compression formats not found in previous versions of Quicktime. Click on the icon to see if it will meet your needs first. |
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Windows Media Player 7.1 for Pocket PC has everything you need to experience music, movies and more on the go. (for the PC 2000 versions of Pocket PC)
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Windows Media Player for Pocket PC 2002. Upgrade your Pocket PC to Pocket PC 2002 and see how all the latest Windows Media Player features are integrated into the best Pocket PC operating system ever. Note: Not FREE. Its bundled inside Pocket PC 2002 just like Media Player 8.0 is inside of Windows XP. |
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New. Windows Media Player Control for Pocket Internet Explorer. Play Windows Media content directly inside a Web page. This functionality has only been available on the desktop until now. Content providers can embed the Windows Media Player Control directly into Web pages in order to customize the user experience. |
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With the RealOne Player for Mobile Devices you will be able to...
Access your favorite RealAudio and RealVideo files made available for your mobile device
Drag-and-drop your music files from your RealOne Player on your PC to your mobile device (PocketPC only)
Access news, sports and entertainment updates
Download content to your mobile device including music videos, travel guidance, auto reviews and much more.
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Kinoma Player delivers full screen, full motion, full color, high resolution video for Palm Powered handhelds. Kinoma Player is compatible with Palm OS 3.1 and later, including the new Palm OS 5! |
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RealAudio Player for the Sony Clie. (Multimedia models only)
Includes RealJukebox 2 basic for Sony (RealNetworks, Inc.)
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Life With Luigi #172, 'Easter Birthday Party", from April 8, 1952
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