A media player is a software program designed to play multimedia content as it is streamed over a network such as the Internet, or from local storage on a hard drive or other resource. It can be expected to understand and translate various audio and video codecs, covering many digital video and music formats.
iTunes is a media player that can be installed on Apple iPhones.
Users of Apple products such as the iPod® and iPhone® will have iTunes® installed, a versatile media player that, like Microsoft’s WMP, has many advanced features. These large and comprehensive programs act not only as players, but also as media libraries, rippers, and burners.
Apple’s iPod products are a kind of portable media player.
Having an all-in-one media player works for some, but others prefer their favorite proprietary software for tasks like ripping and burning. These people may opt for a player that only serves one purpose: a small, streamlined program that runs quickly, does its job, and doesn’t get in the way. Something without the glitter, bang and gloss of the bigger, bloated players.
One of the most popular in this category is a free open source media player called VLC™. Originally designed by students at a French university, VLC is now a global project with contributors from all over the world. It’s popular for a number of reasons, including its cross-platform flexibility, at home on all popular operating systems, and its ability to play what is perhaps the widest range of codecs of any player. VLC still plays an .iso file, a format that typically needs to be converted to MPEG or burned to DVD before playing. Best of all, VLC takes up little space, runs fast, uses few system resources, and does a great job of streaming live media.
Regardless of your preference, there is no shortage of media players to choose from, most of which are free. Many, including VLC, have browser plugins so that the player automatically opens music or movie files while you browse. Even if you prefer an all-in-one player, installing a faster program can be useful for this purpose.
