In the world of media player applications, the little orange traffic cone that VLC uses as its icon signifies ease of use, a deep set of features, and the versatility to play almost anything you can throw at it. After a quick and painless setup, playing video and audio files along with Internet radio and podcasts in this hassle-free app is what Linux computing should be all about.

The world of open source software has ample choices for editing and manipulating audio and video media files. But when you just want put your feet up and relax, fewer really ideal options are available. One solid choice is the Gxine is a media player (See my review here). But an even better pick is the VLC Media Player.

The VLC Media Player is a cross-platform media player that runs on Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, BSD, Solaris, QNX and PocketPC.

One of its coolest features is the built-in streaming server. VLC Media Player streams in unicast and multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network. You will not find this combination in most other media apps.

The VLC package comes with some hefty listening and viewing features. It handles a large variety of audio and video formats as well as DVDs and VCDs. It includes support for DVB formats, so satellite, digital TV and cable TV files play just fine.

If you cannot find a particular audio or video feature in the latest version (1.1.2), chances are pretty good that the feature is not available anywhere else. There is one limitation, though: Blu-ray titles do not play in the VLC Media Player -- or any other open source app that I know.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com

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