SMPlayer is an open source, multi-platform video/audio player, focusing in video features.

It uses the well-known (at least in the open source field) command-line player MPlayer. This means SMPlayer doesn’t need external codecs in order to play the files. This is great because it saves you time and troubles when playing less-known formats.

It comes second in my list of favorite video players, just behind the venerable Media Player Classic. I will talk about more about codecs and players in a later guide i’m working on.

Note: If you are using Windows Vista, the default settings of SMPlayer will disable Aero temporarily while playing files.

For it to work well with Aero, go to Options - Preferences. In the General tab, select gl or gl2 in the Output Drivers: Video drop down list. Aero won’t be disabled anymore.

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• SMPlayer 0.6.1
• QuickTime Alternative 1.95
• Vista Codec Package 4.7.1
• QuickTime Alternative 2.4.0
• Real Alternative 1.8.2