Real Player 101

Real Player makes it possible to enjoy multimedia formats on your computer. This media player is available in English, Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. With free basic versions as well as paid versions with additional features, everyone has access to a multimedia player for their PC.

The History of Real Player

For a short while, Real Player was also known as RealOne Player. The first version of RealPlayer was released under the name RealAudio Player in April, 1995. It was one of the first media players with the capability of playing streaming media on the Internet. Several versions with different names were released including RealPlayer G2, RealOne Player and RealJukebox.

In November, 2007, RealPlayer 11 was released for Windows. In May, 2008 a version for Mac OS X was released. Today there are versions of RealPlayer for Unix, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Linux and Palm OS. The underlying open source media engine powered RealPlayer is called Helix.

During the beginning years of the Internet, Real Player was the top choice for playing streaming media. Today they have competition from Apple iTunes and Windows Media Player. Because there are free versions of Real Player and paid versions with extra features, many still prefer this player for streaming media.

Real Player Features

Real Player does much more than work as an audio and video player for streaming media over the Internet. Real Player's other features include:

-Media browser so you can browse the web while you play media;

-Playlist editor to drop and drag your favorites on a list;

-Theater mode to play video on a full screen with the paid version using less desktop space.

-Continuous play to loop several songs;

-Shuffle play to select random tracks;

-Visualizations with various lights and graphic animations;

-Favorites menu to recall your top media locations;

-Video controls and equalizer for quality playback;

-Media library to keep your files organized by editing and tagging;

-Audio converter with the paid version to convert between MP3, Windows Media, RealMedia, WAV, AAC and other formats;

-Recording audio via a sound card;

-RealPlayer has a music store where you can preview and buy songs for less than a dollar; and

-Live Pause to pause streaming video without the buffering being halted.

Real Player Special Access

Besides all these features, RealPlayer gives you paid access to premium live and recorded video broadcasts with a SuperPass. With RealPlayer Version 11 for Windows, you can download videos and store them on your computer in FlashVideo format. Now you can save all your favorites from YouTube and other video websites in just seconds.

Real Player Supported Formats

When you register for RealPlayer, you will see it support many media formats including RealAudio, RealVideo, RealText, RealPix, Microsoft Windows Media, MP3, CD Audio, AAC/aacPlus, Video DVD, Video CD, MPEG Video, QuickTime, FlashVideo, Adobe Flash, Bitmap, JPEG images, GIF images, Playlists and much more. Optional plug-ins make the list of supported formats endless. Bring photos, videos and sound to your computer in mere seconds with RealPlayer.

Real Player Plugs-Ins

There are plug-ins to enhance the RealPlayer performance. Audio enhancements are available with limited use. Skin creators can be used to create skins for RealJukebox or convert Winamp skins into RealPlayer ones. RealPlayer also has a download add-in for Mozilla Firefox, radio tuners, playback plug-ins and visualizations.

Real Player Editions

Real Player is available in several editions based on your operating system. Available editions of RealPlayer include:

Real Player for Windows

Version 11 includes various features for Windows including multimedia search, embedded web browsing that uses Microsoft Internet Explorer, audio CD burning, FlashVideo and the ability to transfer media to your portable devices such as your MP3 player or Apple iPod.

Real Player for Mac OS X

The free Version 11 for Mac OS X was released in June, 2008. With QuickTime playback support and full-screen theater mode for video playback, MAC users enjoy a variety of features just like Windows users.

Real Player for Linux/Unix

This version of RealPlayer was developed separately from the versions designed for Mac and Windows. It is based on Helix Player and supports MP3, Real Audio/Video and Ogg Vorbis.

Real Player for Palm

Free RealPlayer 1.6 is available internationally for certain PalmOne devices such as the Zire series and Palm Tungsten. Some devices, such as modern smartphones, are not yet supported.

Real Player for Symbian

Mobile phones can now play Real Audio/Video, AMR, 3GP, MP3 and other media formats with the freeware version of Real Player.

What is RealJukebox?

RealNetworks released RealJukebox in May, 1999 so users could organize their digital tunes. By 2001, the program was integrated into Real Player so it is no longer a separate entity.

With a free version of RealPlayer, you can be listening to music and watching videos on your laptop, desktop or mobile device in just minutes.