VLC Media Player 1.0.3 FREE

VLC Media Player 1.0.3 Description

We've all come across problems playing media for one reason or another. Thankfully, the open source community came up with a solution in the form of VideoLAN VLC Media Player.

Version 1.0.2 (codenamed 'Goldeneye') doesn't actually look that much different from previous versions of VLC but it does introduce many new features, formats and codecs to the VLC multimedia framework. It also fixes several major bugs that were in earlier versions.

Firstly, don't be fooled by appearances. VLC Media Player may look basic, but it's this simplicity and power to play anything that makes VLC Media Player so good. This includes downloading streams from the web. Indeed, I've often found that where other media players have failed, VLC Media Player has always allowed me to stream content quickly and reliably. This is because VLC Media Player is so lightweight and doesn't spend as much time processing images as some players do. If you want to stream your own audio or video, there's also a useful streaming wizard to help get you going.

If VLC Player doesn't recognize the file type it will often try playing it anyway and will display the scrambled video in its raw form. As regards control, VLC Media Player offers superb hotkey support allowing you to define a key to do anything from taking video snapshots to skipping tracks. It features subtitle support for all major subtitle formats and even allows you to switch languages in the click of a button.

Note that all versions of VLC Player compatible with Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.6 are available here. The main download link is for the 64 bit Intel version compatible with OS X 10.5 and above. However, you will be offered download links for older OS X versions when you click the free download link. Alternatively, you can download older versions at the foot of this page if you know which one is compatible with your OS. There is not, and there will never be, a version for Mac OS 9.

There's very little to fault with VLC Media Player. It's a superb lightweight media player that will successfully play the most stubborn files where other players fail.