VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. Some video players need codecs installed to playback all your video files. VLC doesn't; it'll play just about every file type imagined, plus DVDs and streaming media. The new version 2.0 is out with major updates, including experimental Blu-ray support.