A PC is not only for work and most of the times, a PC is in use as a media device, rendering HD videos and playing high-quality audio files. People use PCs to watch movies or television series and use media players to play some music while working. Windows comes built-in with decent media applications but these applications have more flaws that a user can handle. MACs, on the other hand, are equipped with pretty good media applications; one of them being a media player that many Windows users love as well – iTunes. But the internet offers many alternatives to these built-in applications that work better and are free. Any media junkie on a Windows PC would only benefit from using these media applications.
Music
Windows Media Player or iTunes, comes to everyone’s mind when we talk about a quality application for music but as good as iTunes is, the Apple software takes up a lot of system memory and has a pretty slow usability. There are many applications that work as good as iTunes but works light, one of them being Winamp. Very lightweight with support for various types, Winamp is one of the best audio applications you can install on Windows but it falls short of the usability because of its traditional music library view. It does not flaunt the album view or the cover flow of Windows Media Player and iTunes but beats both these applications when it comes to performance and file compatibility.
But in recent times, there have been applications that work as a bridge between your media library and the internet. These applications keep a live internet connection with their hosts and work while you’re enjoying your music to bring you dynamic content from famous music sites like Last FM. One of the best applications in this field is Songbird, developed by Mozilla, the same company that brings you the famous browser Firefox. Songbird is a browser and media player built in one and lets you browse the internet as you listen to music but apart from its browser capabilities, it also brings you song lyrics and artist information from the internet as you go through your library. Another software that works in the same way as Songbird is MusicBee, a relatively new software that connects your music library with the internet but does not come equipped with a browser. Instead, it provides plenty of options to reorganize and collect internet data for your music.
Video
Microsoft does not have a very good video player and the video playing capabilities of Windows Media Player is limited, so many people are in the lookout for an advanced media player that can handle any file format you throw at them, like VLC Media Player. No doubt that VLC Media Player is one of the best video players but if you want a change from the bland user interface that comes with it, then a perfect replacement is the Cowon Audio’s JetAudio. JetAudio supports all the popular video formats but might not be able to handle any kind of video files like VLC. It has a slick interface that stays out of your way as you watch videos. It comes equipped with most of the features that people commonly use, such as subtitle feature and aspect-ratio option that lets you manually force a video into different aspect ratios. It also comes with brilliant audio processors that give a certain depth to your video, like BBE sound effects which make watching music videos a pleasure. If you want a more stable and lightweight player, then go for K-Lite Codec Pack’s Media Player Classic. The codec pack installs all the codec files you need to play videos and is a must-install on all Windows PCs. Apart from the codecs, it also comes equipped with a very advanced media player that resembles the Media Player of Windows XP.
Podcasts
Microsoft has conveniently not focused on the need for a Podcast system and it’s also pretty difficult to find a reliable podcast manager for Windows but if you happen to a big podcast buff, there are some excellent applications that can bridge the gap left by your operating system.
The first option comes from Microsoft itself but has now been taken off the internet but can still be found on different download sites. Zune Player was actually constructed as a PC suite for their line of Zune Media Players but Microsoft did such a great job with it that many people still use it as an independent media player and Podcast manager. It is, however, quite flashy and so it takes up a big part of your memory and graphical memory but in all other aspects, it performs wonderfully. The podcasts can be queued up and the user can configure each podcast session to automatically download a certain number of episodes, silently in the background, every time the player starts up. If you want a lightweight option, Sony’s GO Media Manager is also an equally good alternative. Much like Zune, it lets you manage your podcasts easily. Downloading is also very easy.
eBooks
If you are a big bookworm and like to keep a huge collection of ebooks, then a good eBook manager is a must. There’s one that can help you organize you library as well as get your books ready for any device that you may want to read then in.
Calibre is one of the few eBook managers that does not disappoint. It gives you options to change the layout settings of .ePUB files and also helps you get them ready for many eBook readers like the Kindle, Nook or any Android or Apple tablets. It also downloads cover art for your books. Management and device syncing are made very easy with Calibre and that’s all you can ask from an eBook manager.
Your Windows PC can perform a lot better with these applications but there is an abundance of different options that media junkies can experiment with. These applications can help you get through your large media library and make your overall media experience a joy on a Windows PC. So get on your browser and start experimenting with different media players and managers out there.
