Comparison of Media players

The following table compares general and technical information for a number of media player programs. Please see the individual products articles for further information.

Media Player:	WMP	RealPlayer	QuickTime	iTunes	Winamp	Musicmatch	MPlayer	xine	VLC	XMMS
Creator	Microsoft	RealNetworks	Apple Computer	Apple Computer	Nullsoft	Musicmatch	MPlayer	xine	VLC	XMMS
First public release date	November 1992	?	December 1991	January 2001	June 1997	?	September 2000	?	?	?
General
Stable version	10	10	6.5.1	4.6	5.05	9.0	1.0pre5	1-rc5	0.7.2	1.2.10
Cost	Free	Free basic version	Free basic version	Free	Free basic version	Free basic version	Free	Free	Free	Free
License	Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary	Proprietary	GPL	GPL	GPL	GPL
Proprietary format	.wma, .wmv	.ram, .ra	.qt, .mov	.ac3, .m4p	.nsv	None	None	None	None	None
Supported Platforms
Windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mac OS X	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Linux	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BSD	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unix	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Features
Audio playback	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video playback	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Outbound streaming	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Skinnable	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Media Player:	WMP	RealPlayer	QuickTime	iTunes	Winamp	Musicmatch	MPlayer	Xine	VLC	XMMS