Four Alternatives to Windows Media Player

Posted by on 07/27 at 08:08 AM Permalink
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Once upon a time, Windows Media Player (WMP) was a lean and not-so-mean audio and video player. It did a specific job, and did it fairly
well. It was pretty much an cheap MP3 player (and a couple of other formats, too) for your desktop computer.

But like a lot of software (not just the stuff out of Redmond), WMP got a bit too big for its own good. Now, it doesn’t just play audio and video. It’s also a DVD player, an iTunes wannabe, a CD ripper, an interface to MP3 players, and more. Sometimes I wonder if WMP packs a death ray or a connection to my blender that will help me make smoothies. 

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    Posted by Justin  on  07/27  at  07:20 PM

  1. You neglected to mention the best media player with the most functionality: Winamp.

    I agree the other mentioned players are great, minimalist and clean, however Winamp has been that way for many years now and continues to be my #1 fav for media.  If you hate the look of the new winamp skins, you can always go back to the old school, easy to use and navigate look.  Secondarily, you can access hundreds of AOL radio, local radio and CBS radio stations with no frills.

    I always recommend Winamp to anyone looking for a media player alternative.  Even if it doesn’t play that certain file format you want it to, guranteed there is a third party DL to suffice.

    My 3 cents…

    2. Posted by AdmOd  on  07/27  at  08:35 PM

  2. I preferred for KMPlayer smile

    3. Posted by Raymond Klein  on  07/27  at  10:07 PM

  3. My favorite media player is ALShow from ALTools (http://www.altools.com). Codecs are built in. The interface is clean and you can easily navigate within fils with keystrokes. Video and screen capture are built in. IT’S FREE. It plays files medial player won’t. There is a companion audio player call ALSong that searches the net for lyrics. Try it, yu’ll like it

    4. Posted by R Myers  on  07/28  at  02:04 AM

  4. Just wanted to let you know. The last Tech-tip was great. I was looking for a better Media Player. Now I have it.

    Yhanks again.

    5. Posted by Eric Gorham  on  07/28  at  03:34 AM

  5. I thought the writer’s choices odd with the exception of the VLC player which is great for playing odd video formats. However, no mention is made of a audio & video player that has been around for years and can run rings around WMP. It’s called Quintessential Media Player. It’s small for what it does and it does just about everything because the website (Quinnware.com) offers plug-ins for just about anything you’d want to do: play, rip, tag, sort, convert. In addition, it’s opensource so users are constantly posting new skins and plug-ins. It’s easy to use and best of all it’s free.

    6. Posted by Dale  on  07/28  at  05:03 AM

  6. I’m confused My Windows Media Player 11 won’t play my mpg4 vedio produced by my Sanyo Xacti CG6. I did’t think the player would not support the codecs used by the format produced. Has anyone else had the same problem?

    7. Posted by n. e. langland  on  07/28  at  08:03 AM

  7. Does anyone have a recommendation on software for capturing streaming audio and video? thanks,

    8. Posted by William D. Miller  on  07/28  at  10:47 AM

  8. I read your tip but I am confused about what media player you are recommending.  I don’t like WMP either. Tks, Bill

    9. Posted by Rick  on  07/29  at  09:43 AM

  9. Winamp is the most functional of any of these but you also left out GOM Player which plays most everything even if the UI needs some more work.
    Winamp’s plugin library enables it to do things you haven’t even thought of.  Including stream capture.

    10. Posted by Butch  on  07/29  at  04:49 PM

  10. Really strange that wiht all the pros & cons listed, nothing is said about the sound. A player can have all the looks & whistles you want but, when it comes down to brass tacks, if it doesn’t sound good, who wants it? Maybe I’m old fashioned but I listen to music for the sound.

    11. Posted by Simon  on  08/02  at  05:35 AM

  11. I’m THRILLED to see a program licensed under the GNU GPL license top this list.

    I’ve been a fan of geeks.com for years, but I’ve often found myself wishing they were more open-source-friendly. They’ve always carried many products in stock that work wonderfully on Linux/GNU and other free (as in speech) OS’s, often without bothering to find a driver. But almost always, such products are listed as requiring Windows, or Windows/Mac OS, leaving the customer to do his/her own research on whether the product will or will not work with Linux, BSD, Solaris, whatever the case may be.

    Again, I’m so pleased that a GPL product tops the list, quite amused by the fact that it came out on top WITHOUT mentioning that is is GPL, and I hope that both readers here, and the powers that be at ComputerGeeks will take notice, that GPL does not just mean an alternative program you don’t have to pay for.. that more and more often, as time goes on, it will mean a better quality product, due to immense number of people contributing to development, bug fixes, new feature ideas, etc..

    12. Posted by rudy  on  08/18  at  09:09 AM

  12. Who is the gal in picture from article about bluetooth.  Dazzling!

    13. Page 1 of 1 pages

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