Media Players
There are a wide variety of file formats that exist in computers for music and video. The problem is that no single media player will play all of the formats. While each of the media players on the market attempt to do this and even have their programs check the file associations, no single player is able to do all formats because of the proprietary nature of each of the three major players.
Windows Media Player is the most common player because it is integrated into the Microsoft operating systems. This can be used for playing CDs, watching DVD movies and even streaming media. It supports most of the file formats, but its interface can be difficult to use at times. This is the only player that supports the Windows Media streaming formats.
Real Networks was the king of streaming media in the early days of the Internet boom. It will play CDs, music files and streaming music and video that is defined in the Real streaming file formats. Real also has a subscription service to a wide variety of media outlets. Finding their free Real Player download can be quite difficult on their site as they would like people to sign up for the subscription service.
Apple is the final major player in the media player market. Their QuickTime file format has been around for quite some time and has been updated to support streaming. The QuickTime player is also integrated into the iTunes application and is free for anyone to use. Even if you don't have an iPod, the iTunes player can be used for recording and ripping a CD collection onto a personal computer.
Creating CD/DVD Media
With the inclusion of CD and DVD burners on personal computers and the low cost of the media to create them, the ability to create music and movie discs is much more common for users. Most of the media players have basic CD burning functions included in them, but DVD creation and data discs still require other software packages.
There are two major burning suites that are available on the market. Roxio's Easy Media Creator has been around for some time and supports a wide variety of CD and DVD authoring features. The Nero suite is the other package that is available and commonly seen. Both of these generally come packaged with CD/DVD drives and new computers, but they are typically Lite or Basic that include the basic functions. More advanced functions require an upgrade or purchase of a retail package.
Watching DVDs
Watching DVD movies is something that many people tend to do, particularly with notebook computers. The ability to watch a movie on the go is a great convenience especially for the traveler. While Microsoft's Windows Media Player has the ability to playback DVD movies, the interface can get in the way of the viewing experience. Two other DVD playback software packages can typically be found with new computers and even the component drives.
The two major players on the market are CyberLink's PowerDVD and InterVideo's WinDVD. Both of these software packages provide the ability to playback any standard DVD movie on a compatible computer system. Often times these packages are included with hardware components and are optimized to take advantage of the hardware. They both function equally well and it really comes down to personal preferences on the interfaces. High definition versions of these applications are available for those with HD-DVD or Bluray drives in their PCs.
TV/PVR
As multimedia functions get integrated more into computers, their use for TV and as video recorders is rising. This market is still in its infancy so the choices are somewhat limited. Often times the software choices will be limited to the hardware that is in the computer.
Microsoft integrated these features previously in the Windows XP Media Center software. Now it is integrated into the Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate Edition operating systems. Most new computers come with one of these versions, but some budget systems have Home Basic or business systems use Vista Business that do not have these functions.
Outside of the OS, there are software packages that are also available to turn a PC into a personal digital video recorded. The most popular of the software packages right now is SnapStream Beyond TV 3. This is a fully integrated PVR software package that allows for program schedules, scheduled recording, and even pausing of live TV.
InterVideo has a intergrated package called Home Theater 2. It offers much of the same features as Microsoft's media center features such as TV recording, video playback, time shifting, DVD, radio, music and photo viewing.
CyberLink offers the PowerCinema5 software package. This includes all the features of browsing for, recording, playback of TV shows. It also supports picture-in-picture. It also features support for radio, DVD and music all from the same interface.
