Improved interface

The first thing that will strike you when you start up Windows Media Player 11, is the complete revamp of the interface. No more deep blue, the whole application is now dark and shiny and you can customize it by selecting a hue of your choice. Windows Media Player's left side is a drop down pane for your library, the center displays your lists and the right side is used to create playlists which you can rip, burn or sync with a mobile device.

Compared to Windows Media Player 10, we feel that Microsoft has actually made an effort to simplify the interface and give you more ways to browse through your media list, whether by using the drop down menu or the quick rollout line on the top left. The 'play' and 'previous' and 'next' buttons are now nested at the bottom of the interface and have a jazzy glow whenever you roll over them. Microsoft has finally succeeded in integrating a good search function into its Windows Media Player interface. As you type the name of an artist or title the application will bring up the results in the main window.

Windows Media Player 11 makes all your media more accessible. Double click the Media Library button to browse from your music to pictures, movie files and recorded TV. The thumbnail view is a great way to quickly scan through pictures and videos and to include the album image to audio tracks. By clicking the “Media information changes” option under the Library button you can also scan your PC to automatically find new media files. Creating a playlist is a case of drag and drop and oddly enough you can integrate audio, video and pictures. Burning and ripping in Windows Media Player is also very simple, yet disappointingly converting is limited to WMA, WAV or MP3.

Easy to use

The sync process is promising yet remains a bit unstable. While it’s very easy to create a list and sync media, Windows Media Player can occasionally crash or fail to load your mobile device, even if you press the refresh button. When we tested it with a Pocket PC, we had to restart Windows Media Player 11 so that it would recognize it and let us sync our music. As soon as the device became accessible though, it also became visible on the left sided menu, making it very easy to browse through it for music or pictures.

A big improvement

Windows Media Player 11 is a huge improvement from version 10. The whole interface is snazzier and makes browsing through your media simpler. Microsoft has also made creating playlists, syncing, burning or ripping just a case of drag-and-drop. Windows Media Player lets you check out music on dozens of online stores and is loaded with small features to customize your interface and change how you interact with your media.

Conclusion

While the syncing process still remains a bit unstable and we lament the lack of podcast feed support, Windows Media Player 11 is a solid competitor to Apple’s iTunes.

Download Windows Media Player 11 in Softonic

Nothing's more frustrating than taking a picture, uploading it to your computer and subsequently discovering you can't view the file format it uploaded as. FastPictureViewer Codec Pack can help solve that issue.

As the name suggests, you can view a variety of different image formats with FastPictureViewer. In addition, FastPictureViewer Codec Pack offers support for viewing different types of image formats in Windows Explorer, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Photo Viewer, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player 12. There's also full 64-bit compatibility.

In addition, FastPictureViewer Codec Pack supports raw formats from well over 350 different models of the most popular digital cameras on the market currently. It even offers support for special image formats like OpenEXR, HDR, and TGA, among others.

FastPictureViewer Codec Pack also lets you view EXIF metadata within Windows Explorer.

If you want to view lots of different image formats on your PC, FastPictureViewer Codec Pack will most likely be an indispensable aid.

Download FastPictureViewer Codec Pack 3.2 in Softonic

AVI ReComp can be very useful for users who want to clear their AVIs out of GMC or Qpel functions to prepare their clips for standalone DVD players. The program contains the feature of embedding subtitles into video. So if you want burnt in subtitles, you can use this software. Additionally the newest versions allow you to add black borders to your movie and place your subtitles on them. You can also adjust all settings for ssa and ass subtitles (style, colour, position).

AVI ReComp enables batch encoding, getting detailed information about AVI files and adding own logo to the movie. You can also change a resolution and aspect ratio of your video clip. The Cropping tool can be used to crop existing black borders or just change video aspect ratio. It is also possible to convert all audio streams of your movie choosing one of available encoding modes (VBR, ABR, CBR) and bitrates. AVI ReComp supports AVIs with the following audio formats: mp3, wav, ac3, dts, ogg. Supported subtitle formats: TMPlayer (.txt), MicroDVD (.txt / .sub), SubViewer2 (.sub), SubRip (.srt), Advanced SubStation Alpha (.ass), SubStation Alpha (.ssa), VobSub (.sub/.idx).

AVI ReComp includes multilingual interface (for the time being: Arabic, British, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Turkish). Starting with version 1.4.1 ARC is Windows Vista compatible. In the future I'm going to create many new and very useful features.

Download AVI ReComp 1.5.3 in Softonic

The application offers six different preset modes from audio, movies, and gaming to external speakers, on-board speakers, and headphones. The different configurations create varied audio playback and some audio settings actually work better than their presets depending on what type of video is being watched.

SRS Audio Essentials is simple to use with the standard options, but the full version of SRS Audio Essentials features customizable sliders that affect the treble, bass, and sound dimensions. SRS Audio Essentials also features a simulated 5.1 surround sound option that can be used with most video playback.

But how did SRS Audio Essentials compare to the on-board audio?

SRS Audio Essentials was tested on an Alienware MX11 that uses Realtek High Definition Audio as the default audio processor. Two sets of headphones were used: Altec Lansing ear buds and WESC over-the-ear headphones.

Audio

With iTunes, four different songs from two different genres were tested. Hip-hop and rock music have comparable audio attributes, and the four songs chosen contain both a good amount of high and lows.

Across the board, SRS Audio Essentials beat Realtek High Definition Audio by producing a wider spectrum of sound and highlighting the higher pitches and solid lows. The hip-hop songs sounded heavier with the increased bass and the rock songs had new life brought to them with the percussion and smaller recorded sounds becoming more vibrant by SRS Audio Essentials.

Movies

For the video tests, Media Player Classic Home Cinema (in the K-Lite codec pack) and Windows Media Player were used to compare playback. SRS Audio Essentials is compatible with most media players and natively works with Windows Media Player while Media Player Classic had to be configured to recognize the program to process the sound.

Using three high definition music videos, SRS Audio Essentials again produced more impressive audio. Using two pop songs and one hip-hop song, SRS Audio Essentials was able to create a wider and more expansive sound. The pop song’s heavily layered instrumentals contained more depth while the vocals sounded much more natural and comprehensible. The hip-hop video played with an enjoyable amount of bass and the treble also presented small cues not heard with Realtek High Definition Audio.

The only problem with SRS Audio Essentials is that the presets do not work well with music video audio. In the case of both pop videos, there was a noticeable amount of cracking during playback that sat right behind the melody of the song and even adjusting the advanced option sliders did not remove the issue.

A dialogue-heavy movie was also tested and with presets (movie and headphones), the audio came across clean and audible. SRS Audio Essentials was also able to create more virtual surround with small background noise like crickets being easily heard. Considering the source was from DVD, it was impressive that SRS Audio Essentials processed the smaller noises not heard during playback.

Gaming

The Binding of Issac was tested with SRS Audio Essentials. Containing both an introduction containing lots of dialogue and the game containing a heavy soundtrack, it was the perfect game to test. Once again, SRS Audio Essentials bested Realtek High Definition Audio by expanding and improving on the experience of the game through the sound. In the simplest case: the game sounded a lot more epic.

Since SRS promotes SRS Audio Essentials as a program that is for music, movies, and games primarily; the testing of the three different types proved that SRS Audio Essentials is actually an essential add-on to anyone’s computer that does not contain a discrete soundcard.

While SRS Audio Essentials is not absolute perfection, it is the closest possibility through software.

Download SRS Audio Essentials 1.0.45.0 in Softonic

Download dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC) 14.2 in Softonic

Users are very picky when it comes to installing codec packs on their PCs - nobody wants to bloat their system with useless files and tools that won't be of any use or will only cause incompatibility issues. You won't have this problem with XP Codec Pack. This compact, handy codec pack has always been Softonic's first choice whenever we need to install codecs or upgrade them on a PC.

Why? Well, we like the fact that XP Codec Pack focuses on the most popular formats, and so it's not overloaded with codecs most users will hardly use. Secondly, it's easy to install and lets you choose exactly what you want, both for codecs and tools. Finally, XP Codec Pack is incredibly stable and highly compatible: we've never had a single problem with codec since we began to use it.

Of course, that doesn't mean to say that XP Codec Pack is perfect. There are a few flaws that should be pointed out. The most demanding users will surely miss a wider array of formats in XP Codec Pack, as well as more codec-related tools like the ones you find in other codec packs.

XP Codec Pack is a great choice for those who don't need a massive selection of codecs and prefer a simpler, hassle-free codec kit for the most popular audio and video formats.

Download XP Codec Pack 2.5.1 in Softonic