Memories

It seems just like yesterday that I was on my 28.8k modem, scanning the net and watching game demos with my awesome Media Player (it wasn't classic at the time). Today, I'm content to grab the latest codecs while surfing and use any sort of player as long as it gets the job done.

When I'm bored I even run MP Classic on my computer to see how far I've come and how much I've upgraded. I wanted to take a look at this new version of the Classic player to see what the biggest difference was.

Features

After opening the player, I felt like someone had heard the call of getting back to basics and actually listened. This is a really light player with no extra bumbling features. With the right codecs, you can play anything and everything. They took the classic WMP and rebuilt it to fit everyone's needs.

I used to love the fact that I can adjust the size of the monitor without having the picture stay one size while the window grows around it. I'm glad they save this option with the release.

I was indeed surprised when I was able to play DVDs without requiring a registration code. In fact I didn't even need to have the full version or trial version of anything as you do in most cases. It played all the way through (after I got the codec that is) and without a hassle.

An option that I thought was awesome was the captions link. It throws you directly to a site that literally has thousands of movies to choose from and in a lot of different languages.

It has the essential shortcuts one would need for easy play manipulation and a ton of options to play around with.

I only wish that these guys would include a whole lot more codecs within the program instead of making the user go out there and grab everything they need.

The Good

It's freeware that plays both PC and DVD media. Classic is a light player that gives you a lot of functionality with little problems.

The Bad

You have to grab a lot of codecs in order to fully enjoy what it has to offer. Could have also included the essential caption packs as a sidenote. It makes you chase things around a tad too much.

The Truth

It's a great tool to have in your arsenal just because of its simplicity, its adaptability and for some old school users because of its flashback bringing ability. I'm a bit enamored with the idea of using the same player as I did when I was a wee youngun.

Check out some screenshots below: