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Friday, March 29, 2013

KMPlayer



KMPlayer is all in one media player, covering various formats such as:
VCD
DVD
AVI
MKV
Ogg Theora
OGM
3GP
MPEG-1/2/4
WMV
RealMedia
QuickTime

It has an extra feature to play Incomplete/Damaged AVI file, Locked Media Files while downloading or sharing, Compressed Audio Album (zip, rar) and so on. It handles a wide range of subtitles and allows you to capture audio, video, and screenshots in many ways. The player provides both internal and external filters with a fully controlled environment without grappling with DirectShow merit system. The player can set multifarious audio and video effects, control playback speed and octave, select parts of a video as favorites, do a powerful A-B repeat, remap the keys of remote interface for HTPC including overlay screen controls, change a skin dynamically depending on a media type playing, and many more. It is completely customizable thanks to a wide selection of skins and color schemes, and configuration options are extensive.

VLC Media Player







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What's the top media player? Opinions differ, but if you mean one that's open-source freeware, plays more files than the others, can be totally customized and configured to suit, and is not only updated frequently but also regularly offers new features and options created by a huge community of programmers and users, the answer is VLC Media Player.

Our default media player for years, VLC has managed to stay ahead of the competition in features and performance, if not always looks, though that's easy enough to fix if you want to. VLC and its source code are maintained by the all-volunteer VideoLAN Organization.

VLC is quick and easy to install. You can make VLC your default media player for various (or all) file types, but if you just want to try VLC without giving up your current player, you can skip the file associations. We clicked the familiar orange-and-white traffic cone icon to open VLC's famously plain interface, which is also a model of efficient layout design (and completely customizable, in any case: clicking the skinned player option in VideoLAN's Start Menu folder opens VLC in a sleek new view).

Effects? VLC has 'em: Audio, Video, and Synchronization effects, including a graphic equalizer with many presets; totally customizable dynamic range compression; an audio spatializer tool; AtmoLight video effects; interactive zoom; logos and overlays; and even special effects like blur, wave, water, and mirror effects. VLC's minimized interface hides the player's controls until you need them, and a raft of hot keys make it easy to toggle between views and to quickly access any of VLC's features. Playback quality is as good as it gets. We've used VLC to play MP3s, WAVs, CDs, DVDs, Flash video, and other formats. As for support, few programs of any sort can match VLC's Help files and wikis, and its dedicated community of users, forums and other online resources.
From myriad file types to playlists to codecs and video capture, if it's useful to have in a media player, VLC has probably got it or soon will. VLC plays everything:

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Internet Download Manager

Quick Specs

  • Version: 6.15 build 7
  • File size: 4.79MB
  • Date added: March 24, 2013
  • Price: Free to try (30-day trial); $24.95 to buy (Buy it now)
  • Operating system:
    Windows NT/98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/8


The name might not be the most creative, but the Internet Download Manager does exactly what it promises: helps you download and organize files. The best part is that you can schedule downloads and use filters to get the specific files you want.

The compact interface is packed with options, but the main features are easily accessed from a toolbar at the top. We would have liked to see a bit more user guidance up front, but a tutorial does cover the basics, and there is a more detailed Help file if you get stuck. You can also go the easier route with the program's integrated Web browser options, which work with nearly all of the most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox. Each time the program recognizes a video in FLV format on a site like YouTube, you'll see a button, and it's one click and you're off and running. From the main interface, all you have to do is add the URL for a video to get started. A new window shows you the status and allows you to pause the recording and set up a few options for what to do with the file once the download completes. As advertised, the speed was good and we didn't have any issues with test files we downloaded, which included MP3s, FLVs, and MPEGs. Our favorite feature was the scheduler, which was easy to set up and lets you choose where and when the program will download files. We especially liked the fact that if you lose your Internet connection, the program will resume downloading your selected or scheduled files once everything's up and running again.

The download and installation of IDM was easy and fast, and it uninstalled cleanly. If you're looking for a program that you can basically set and forget to video downloads, this is a good option.

WinRAR (32-bit)





Quick Specs

  • Version: 4.20
  • File size: 1.45MB
  • Date added: June 14, 2012
  • Price: Free to try (40-day trial); $29.00 to buy (Buy it now)
  • Operating system:
    Windows XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7



WinRAR is a lightweight, flexible, and easy-to-use archiving utility that can unpack most archive formats, as well as compress to both RAR and ZIP. Free to try for 40 days ($29 for single license), WinRAR is a top dog in the compression category.

WinRAR's interface is about as simple as it gets. Start creating (or add to) an archive by dragging and dropping your files into the interface or by browsing through the Folder Tree side panel (when enabled). From there, the most common functions are laid out in the form of colorful, mostly intuitive icons along the top, which can all be customized by downloading themes from the company's Web site. You can Add files to, Extract, Test, Delete, or even Repair archives right from the main interface. Drop-down menus house the program's more advanced features, including self-extracting archives, archive locking, benchmarking, and autodeletion of temp files.

AVG AntiVirus Free 2013



AVG's updates for 2013 look to the future while struggling to overcome the problems of the past. There's a new interface optimized for Windows 8 that really does make the suite easier to use, and the suite once again tackles its lengthy installation procedure. However, one of the best new features in AVG was actually introduced as a midyear update during 2012.

Quick Specs

  • Version: 2013.0.3267
  • File size: 4.24MB
  • Date added: March 19, 2013
  • Price: Free; paid upgrade available
  • Operating system:
    Windows XP/Vista/7/8
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Avast Free Antivirus

 

Quick Specs

  • Version: 8.0.1483.72
  • File size: 106.52MB
  • Date added: March 07, 2013
  • Price: Free
  • Operating system:
    Windows XP/Vista/7/8
Avast continues to push the envelope of top-shelf free security features with hybrid update tech, file reputation analysis, and more. It's independent benchmarks are a bit weak, but more than 150 million people trust Avast to keep them safe.

Looking to compete with both paid and free security suites, Avast wants to create a unified approach to your computer security. Long gone are the days of the quirky interface. Avast is accessible and robust, with an impressive list of free features and strong, though hardly stellar, performance benchmarks.