iTunes is arguably the most popular media player for Mac & Windows, with a recent update for the iPhone…but is it the best? Check out the competition: 40 other popular media players.
Cross-Platform
Amarok – Amarok is a cross-platform intuitive music player for Linux, UNIX and the Mac operating system. Its features include lyrics support, Wikipedia integration, music statistics and a contextual browser.
BHplayer – BHplayer doubles as a media player & DVD player with its support for many audio and video formats.
BMP – A compact, open source multimedia player for Ubuntu using skinnable interface based on Winamp skins.
GLM FLV Player – GLM is a feature rich standalone application to view FLV files without any codec.
JW Media Player – JW Media player supports media playback of files which are compatible with Adobe Flash player. Examples of files are MP3, FLV and SWF etc.
Kaffeine – Kaffeine is a power packed multimedia player for systems runnning the KDE (K Desktop Environment).
Kplayer – Kplayer is an open-source multi media player for the KDE desktop environment.
MediaFrame – An open-source Java based streaming media platform offering support for playing Mpeg formats.
Mplayer – Mplayer is an open source cross-platform media player and is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac etc.
Ogle – Ogle is an open source DVD player for Linux, UNIX and similar operating systems.
RealPlayer – A cross-platform media player with support for playing MP3, MPEG, Windows Media, QuickTime & Real media file formats.
Rhythmbox – An iTunes inspired music management application, designed to work with GNOME desktop.
Songbird – Songbird is a Firefox-based new age cross platform media player and web-browser jukebox built by the ex-team of Winamp and the Yahoo music engine.
Totem – An open source media player for GNOME desktop environment with added functionality like webcam utility, video thumbnailer and Firefox plugin.
VLC media player – VLC is an extremely portable multimedia player capable of supporting many audio, video codecs and DVDs, CDs and streaming protocols.
Xine – Xine is an open source cross-platform multimedia engine having API for video processing and playback. Xine offers support for Linux, Mac and Solaris.
XMMS – XMMS called as X Multimedia system is a multimedia player for UNIX systems. Its features include support for files like MP3, WAV and MOD etc.
Zoom Player – Zoom player is a customizable DVD media player that offers support for the latest media formats.
Windows
Ace Media Player – A single player to watch QuickTime, Real, DivX and Windows Media files.
ALShow Media Player – ALShow provides inbuilt codes which offer support for playing FLV and MP4 files.
BS.Player – BS.Player is one of the most popular video players and has very low CPU and RAM requirements. BS.Player has over 60 million users worldwide and is available in more than 90 languages.
Core Media Player – A DVD media player for Microsoft Windows.
Crystal Reality – CrystalPlayer features video playback for all types of sources for various versions of Windows operating systems.
FLV Player – FLV player is a media player for playback of Flash video from your computer and websites such as YouTube, Google Video etc.
GOM Player – GOM, expanded as Gretech Media player offers support for playing .flv and other files without obtaining a codec.
jetAudio – A software multimedia player with advanced features like the ability to rip CDs, encode audio & video files and recording capabilities.
Kantaris – Kantaris is based on Videolan client (VLC) source code and can play almost all types of files, audio & video CDs and DVDs. Kantaris is compatible with all versions of Windows and is open-source.
LAVA FLV Player – Lava FLV player is used to play flash video files used in Google video, Youtube, Metacafe etc.
Media Center – Media Center is a Jukebox style media player. It has an interface similar to iTunes and enables users to organize and play various types of media files.
MPC – Media Player Classic (MPC) is a handy media player for Microsoft Windows and uses the look and feel of the earliest Windows Media Player.
PowerDVD – PowerDVD doubles as a video and music player for the Windows operating system. Users can play DVD movies or movies stored on their computer. It also offers support for Blu-Ray and HD DVD.
Quintessential Player – A media player for Windows featuring support for popular audio formats. It comes with advanced features like streaming internet radio and CD ripping.
RadLight – RadLight is billed as the first type of an all-in-one multimedia solution which allows users to experience DivX, DVD and MP4 audio. Apart from the free version it also has a pro version with special features like subtitles, double resolution etc.
The KMPlayer – A dynamic media player capable of playing all audio & video formats. Its special features include subtitle handling & media capturing and screenshots.
TrayPlayer – TrayPlayer is a customisable media player and embeds easily into the Windows taskbar.
Winamp – An immensely popular media player written by Nullsoft. Users can enjoy free music, play around with its cool skins and synchronize it with the iPod.
WinDVD – WinDVD is a video and music player enabling users to watch their favorite DVD movies without any interruption.
VidLizard – A DVD, video and audio player for Windows with easy-to-use interface and optional control panel for screen play.
Others
CorePlayer – CorePlayer is an advanced multimedia platform allowing users to manipulate multimedia content on their mobile phone, PDA, GPS or convergence devices.
NicePlayer – A Mac OS media player using Quicktime library and providing support for any codes available with Quicktime. Its special feature is the open-ended plugin system which allows anyone to write a plugin.
Xbox Media Center (XBMC) – XMBC is a media player for the Xbox gaming console. Its features include music, image and video playback. (via)