I mentioned earlier that many users prefer older versions of Windows Media Player to the more recent (and bloated) editions. Media Player Classic isn’t really an older version of Windows Media Player, but it’s an ideal blend of new-and-functional and old-time-familiar.

Media Player Classic as an open source video and music player. Like VLC it offers little in the line of library functionality, but it too will play practically any video format most users will happen across. A combination of the two is a popular choice; there’s very little that can’t be opened by either. Installing both means there’s very little you’ll have trouble opening.

Where Media Player Classic really has the edge is in highly compressed video files Flash Video (the format used by sites like YouTube) won’t play in VLC. It also offers an alternative to Real Player, in the form Real Alternative. Real Alternative is a separate application, which operates through Media Player Classic. Many files are encoded in the RM format because of the excellent compression it offers. Sadly, Real Player itself has become a bloated, inefficient application.

Real Alternative won’t play streaming RealMedia files; for that you’ll need an actual install of RealPlayer (which the vast majority of users can live without).

Of course, for those of you who prefer to use versions of Windows Media Player prior to Windows Media Player 11, there is a way to uninstall and rollback to a previous version. You can find the method behind this madness, here.

Alternatively, you can download Media Player Classic here.

Conclusion

In an ideal world, we’d all just stick with whatever media players came bundled with our machines, without ever even speculating on the need to change. In reality though, if you haven’t tried at least some variety of applications for music and video playback independently, you’re probably not getting the most out of it.

With that in mind, it’s worth having a look at what else is on offer, if only because some of the alternatives have such an individual look and feel to them. Given the fact that so many users will have a media player running more often than not, it’s worth your while trying to find one that’s both functional and customisable enough to suit your desktop. Of course, for those of you using iTunes, there are few options that offer the same service, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth having a look at the competition.