vlc media player
Linux Training Week: Software Availability
February 16, 2010
One of the biggest issues when moving away from Windows is software availability; what we do on a computer isn’t defined by the operating system, but the third party software we use on that operating system. Because most of the software written for Linux operating systems is open source, it may be difficult to find a replacement for the everyday software that you use on Windows or Mac OS X.
Web Browsers and Email
Everybody has their favourite browser, and you’ll find many available for Linux. I chose to use Firefox (which is installed on Ubuntu by default), Google Chrome (my browser of preference on Windows and OS X) and Opera 10 Browser in addition to this.
When testing each browser, I found them to be on par with each other, although Opera was definitely slower than Firefox and Chrome. I found Chrome to be extremely fast and lightweight in comparison to Firefox, and it remains my browser of choice on Linux. If you make the switch, or already use Ubuntu, I definitely recommend checking Chrome out. Enabling Flash was also an easy process – I simply downloaded the plugin on first use and everything worked great.
Continue reading »VLC Remote iPhone App Review
January 16, 2010
I use VLC Media Player for all of my video playback, as it will play anything you throw at it with great support for many formats. When I heard that VLC had released an application on the iTunes AppStore to remotely control the VLC Media Player, I was very excited to see how it worked and despite some minor gripes I have with it, I wasn’t disappointed.
You’ll find two versions of the application available: a VLC Remote free version and a VLC Remote paid version for £1.79, or $2.99 in the US store. I’d recommend purchasing the full version, as it allows you to browse through your files on the selected computer, including any external drives (this is essential for me, as all my media is stored on my external hard drive) so you don’t have to leave your chair!
Continue reading »Essential Software for Mac OS X
January 9, 2010
More people today are using Mac’s than ever before – OS X market share has been climbing steadily since the release of Mac OS X, but third party software is just as important as the OS it’s running on, so what do you need to put on your Mac?
Web Browsers
Every new Mac comes with Snow Leopard pre-installed, which gives you Safari 4 out of the box. If you’re on an older Mac or just don’t like Safari, there are a host of alternatives available. I have three browsers installed on my Mac, but often use Safari. If you want to customise your browser then I recommend Mozilla Firefox, my PC and Linux browser of choice. As well as offering plugins and add-ons that allow you to make the browsing experience more personal, it’s open source too. You could also try Google’s Chrome browser for OS X. It’s been unofficially available for quite some time now, but the official Google Chrome Beta was released a few weeks ago and it’s very speedy and takes up less system resources than Safari.
Continue reading »Handbrake 0.9.4 Review (Video Transcoder For Windows, Mac OS X & Linux)
December 10, 2009
I’ve long considered Handbrake on of the best DVD ripping applications available, and after a year long wait, it’s finally been upgraded to version 0.9.4, complete with over a whopping thousand changes. I tested Handbrake 0.9.4 on Mac OS X, specifically the 64-bit version which promises a 10% performance boost over the 32-bit version. If you’re a Windows user, you won’t have a 64-bit option, as this is only available on Mac OS (including Leopard) and Linux.
If you’ve used Handbrake before, you’ll be familiar with many of the features, but there’s things you’ll have to get used to in the latest version. Firstly, you can now include subtitle tracks in your rips without having to hardcode them in to the movie, so you can choose whether or not to have them available when watching. As well as this, there’s also support for .srt files which you can download from the internet.
Continue reading »HD Ultra Slim Pocket Video Camera
December 7, 2009
The HD Ultra Slim Pocket Video Camera is a beautifully sleek, and extremely portable video capture device. Capable of snapping high definition video, or 5 megapixel still photos as well as being an MP3 player. It’s compact, light and stylish.
This camcorder stores its videos in .AVI format which is suitable for almost any user as it is compatible with Windows Media Player as well as other media playing software such as the VLC media player. Therefore viewing your creation on your PC is as simple as possible.
Continue reading »Real Player SP Review (How To Record Streaming Video)
November 23, 2009
Hold back the vomit; it’s time for Real Player SP!
If you’re like me, something happened in your teenage years, when you lost your mind through a combination of hormones and white cider, and decided that it would be a good idea to install Real Player on your computer.
Back in the age of Netscape, when .rm (and all the other) files were competing equally with every other format out there, it was quite a reasonable, even necessary thing to have Real Player installed. Of course, that was then and this is now. With the advent of VLC Media Player and similar cross-platform products, Real’s stranglehold over the .rm genus of increasingly insignificant file types has all but disappeared.
Continue reading »5 Top Open Source Applications
October 25, 2009
Whilst writing this article, the phrase ‘nothing in life is free’ leaps to mind. However, a quick trip to sourceforge.net will entirely disprove that theory. Sourceforge is a developer’s paradise, a community where developers create and build upon their own and other people’s open source software. This article will take you through the top 5 must-have open source applications that could save you literally hundreds of pounds…
Continue reading »
