Windows Media Player ships with all Windows Operating Systems and is currently the most popular media player in the world. Windows Media Player allows users to listen to music and watch a vast number of movies and television shows in a sleek interface while having full control over how large the video is. Windows Media Player can be zoomed in up to 200% and can be used to play virtually any file format. Windows Media Player also includes a built-in webstore and features several options for synchronization with external devices. While Windows Media Player is limited in its capabilities compared to other media players, it is, by far, the most widely used.

Windows Media Player Classic

Windows Media Player Classic is an older version of Windows Media Player that is not used quite as frequently but has just as much functionality. Windows Media Player Classic is mostly provided today for Windows users who do not appreciate the media player upgrade. While Windows Media Player has a sleek black design, Windows Media Player Classic has a grey interface. The two programs also differ in the fact that when Windows Media Player is double-clicked, it enlarges to a full-screen video; when Windows Media Player Classic is double-clicked (or even single-clicked), it pauses the video. Like Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player Classic also ships with Windows.

VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player is a very popular, open source program that is capable of playing virtually all media file formats without external codecs. This is because VLC Media Player includes everything that it needs in order to play any file that it is presented with. Users are able to change the screen resolution, stream music and videos via download or upload, and watch extremely high quality videos even when the file itself has poor quality. Likewise, VLC Media Player is capable of playing broken or corrupted files as it plays what is still readable instead of rejecting the file like most other media players do. VLC Media Player is free and can be found at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ .

WinAmp

WinAmp is another popular, yet less used, media player that supports a wide range of media file types including AAC, AIF, AIFF, AMF, VLB, ASF, AU, AVI, CDA, FAR, FLV, 669, IT, ITZ, KAR, M2V, MP3, M4A, MDZ, MID, MIDI, MIZ, M4V, VOC, MOD, MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, M3U, MPEG, MPG, MTM, NSA, MKV, B4S, NST, NSV, OGG, OKT, M3U8, PTM, RMI, S3M, S3Z, SND, SWF, ASX, STM, STZ, ULT, FLAC, PLS, WAV, WMA, WMV, XM, WEBM, W64, and WPL. The software also supports fifteen different languages and can burn CDs and DVDs. WinAmp is free and can be found at http://www.winamp.com/ .

K-Lite Codec Pack

Most media players are capable of playing all media file formats if the correct codecs are installed on the user’s computer. When the correct codecs are not installed, however, the media player in question may only play part of the video or simply not play the video at all. This is very common when playing AVI files and can be corrected by downloading and installing the K-Lite Codec Pack. The K-Lite Codec Pack is an extensive collection of audio and video codecs that allow the user to play virtually any media file. The collection also includes filters, encoders/decoders, and a wide range of tools for configurations and modifications.