is a
Media Player , created by
RealNetworks , that plays a number of multimedia formats including
MP3 ,
MPEG-4 ,
QuickTime , as well as multiple versions of proprietary
RealAudio and
RealVideo Codec s.
The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player, one of the first media players capable of
Streaming Media over the Internet. Version 6 of RealPlayer was called RealPlayer G2; version 9 was called RealOne Player. Free "Basic" versions have been provided as well as paid "Plus" versions with additional features. On Windows, version 9 subsumed the features of the separate program
RealJukebox .
The current version for
Windows is RealPlayer 10.5 and other versions but with far fewer features are available for
Mac OS X ,
Linux ,
Unix ,
Palm OS ,
Windows Mobile and
Symbian OS . The program has an underlying
Open Source media engine called
Helix .
RealPlayer 10.5 for Windows also contains audio CD burning capabilities,
PVR -style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an integrated web browser (based on Microsoft
Internet Explorer ) and the ability to transfer media to a number of portable devices, including Apple's
IPod , MP3 players and
Windows Media devices.
RealPlayer 10.1.0 (400) for Mac OS X supports web browsing via
WebCore . Since WebCore handles
Cookies , RealPlayer and
Safari automatically use the same cookies (along with
Shiira or any other WebCore application).
''All of these complaints generally apply to only the Microsoft Windows version of the player. OS X and Linux versions seem unaffected by these issues.''
- RealOne Player G2 contained an alert that would alert users inside its interface, whether or not an upgrade was available. This upgrade might require money, but Real did not make this clear enough for some users' taste. It also included AIM , and RealJukebox depending on various factors such as whether users opted out of the recommended download and chose a more basic package on the download page.
- A Security Research er, possibly Steve Gibson , dissected some of RealJukebox's Network Traffic and discovered that it was sending a unique identifier with information about the music titles its users were listening to. RealNetworks acknowledged this, and after an outcry, they released a patched version which upped the version number to 1.02. Their download page said that RealJukebox had "privacy enhancements" and gave a link to the privacy policy.
- RealOne included the message center like G2, but it was more noticed by users, because it was configured to run on system startup. With 10.0, the Web Browser portion of the Suite was less accessible, and the message center no longer pops up alerts.
- 10.5 included Harmony technology, making the Music Store compatible with IPod and Windows Media DRM compatible players. (Previously, it had only been compatible with one music player and Palm PDAs).
- It has also been argued that the player launches "messages" which are advertisements for bands etc. Some have said this could qualify as Adware . There is, however, an option to turn the messages off. However, RealPlayer 10 will automatically turn some message options back on, namely: New Music Alerts, Movies, and Best Clip of the Month. The effect is that the Message Center will almost always popup with new advertising.
- There have also been complaints that after signing with RealPlayer, one is bombarded with endless emails. You can unsubscribe, though.
- RealPlayer 10 on Windows modifies the Windows Registry to run its message center (realonemessagecenter.exe) automatically at system startup. It will do so again every time RealPlayer shuts down.
- RealPlayer Enterprise Edition does not contain significant adverts, popups or otherwise unneeded components and is still free - but it is not promoted and advertised as much.
