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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Jack Schofield

Alternatives to Windows Media Player

Can you recommend a free alternative to Windows Media Player for playing videos, particularly .avi? I am after a less bloated player. Tony Jones

I think the best answer for Windows users is Media Player Classic. This can also play many QuickTime and RealVideo files, with the "alternatives" installed so you can avoid three lots of bloatware. If you download the K-Lite Codec Pack, this includes the Media Player, so you don't need to download it separately. The main free alternative is VLC, which is cross-platform. There are versions for Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, and numerous versions of Linux and Unix.

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