VideoLAN is an excellent multimedia player with it"s own plugins for playing different formats, so it doesn"t need any codecs to be installed. It works great for previewing partially downloaded files too as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.
Changes between 0.8.6a and 0.8.6b:
Various bugfixes notably:
* out-of-bound read in demuxers
* demuxers crashes (incl. CVE-2007-0256)
* Mac OS X Interface crashes
* VP31 decoding on Windows platforms
* Direct3D Video Output modifications for Vista compatibility
* correct behaviour for feeding streams to icecast or shoutcast servers
Decoders:
* Enhanced Flash Video support incl. VP61 and VP60
* Teletext subtitles support
Webbrowser plugins:
* rectified behaviour and improved usability
Mac OS X Interface & Port:
* diverse usability improvements
* new wizard option to include subtitles
* screensaver/automatic sleep mode is enabled when a video is paused
* Improved Delete-Preferences-Script