Today, I’m going to kick off a new series of recurring posts discussing my computer software of choice in a variety of categories. But I’m interested to hear feedback as well. What programs do you use the most, and what software categories would you like me to explore in this category? I’m starting with media software today, with backup/recovery software and security suites already on deck for future posts.
Interacting with media is one of the things people do the most on their computers these days. Many of us have vast libraries of music files, as well as video files. The problem is, as these libraries get bigger and bigger, how do we keep them organized?
For awhile, I was content with Windows Media Player. Going back to WMP 9, I used the program because it was organized and effective. They key back then was that it played my PlaysForSure DRM’ed files, and I didn’t give my program selection to much thought beyond that.
Windows Media Player was effective for me until the summer of 2007, when I began to explore some other options. I looked at foobar2000, which is highly customizable but more customizable than I really needed. Eventually, I found MediaMonkey. I’ve been using it ever since, and it makes keeping my files organized a breeze.
MediaMonkey can easily tag and organize large libraries – in fact, it boasts that it can “manage 50,000+ files in your music collection without bogging down.” I wouldn’t know if that’s the case, as my library is a fraction of the size, but I can certainly say that it handles my 2000+ songs with ease. There are also a wealth of plugins available, which can do almost anything you can think of. I even have a plugin that tracks which artists, songs, and albums I listen to the most, which can make playlists as specific as “top artists I listen to on Tuesdays.”
The major disadvantage of MediaMonkey is that it only supports music, and not video. However, I don’t have much of a video library, so it’s not a big deal to me. When I’m going to play a video clip, firing up trusty old Windows Media Player (which, on its 12th version, is really quite solid) or the jack-of-all-trades VLC gets the job done.
MediaMonkey is completely free; there is a Gold version available for $19.95, but it really doesn’t add anything I personally need (your mileage may vary).
In additon to MediaMonkey, I should mention that I’ll occasionally use iTunes, generally only if I want to purchase content from the iTunes store. I know it seems like I really like to bash Apple on here, but I legitimately dislike iTunes. I find it to be slow (though the Mac version seems a bit better than the Windows version in this regard), and I think it’s a bit ineffective when it comes to handling larger libraries. The iTunes store is easy and convenient, though, so iTunes will remain installed on my computer.
On the video side, I should add in a plug for Windows Media Center. On my DVR PC, it records and plays back television with ease. It also streams music and video from other computers very effectively. The interface is simple and easy, and it’s been well-optimized for television displays.
Then, of course, there’s the ever-expanding world of online streaming media. I’m finding that I’m starting to stream music more, though the majority of my listening still consists of files off my hard drive. When it comes to streaming, though, I am a huge fan of both Pandora and Grooveshark.
That just about covers my software choices when it comes to digital media. Is there a great program you use that I left out? Want to know more about MediaMonkey or any other program? Don’t hesitate to chime in with a comment. That’s the main reason I’ve started this new blog series, as I’m very interested to hear what software others are using.