Media Jukebox 8.0

Media Jukebox supports over 70 media formats (audio and video). These include the common (MP3, Real Audio, Windows Media) and the more obscure (Ogg Vorbis, 669).

Although it supports Windows Media and Real Audio formats, you still need to have these players on your system. You can, however, play all your files in one player with no need to switch between them.

All the features you would expect are present, along with a few you wouldn't. It has over-the-air and cable TV playback (ATI TV card required), comprehensive support for many portable audio players, and some great audio editing tools.

It is easy to use, particularly with its all-new interface, and the new mini mode lets you operate the player without blocking half your screen space.

Radio support is great - it lists over 1,000 stations of all genres, and organises them sensibly.

A 'buy CD/search' function allows you to search the internet to buy other tracks by the same artist, or simply to get information. But you are limited to searching the databases of Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with the result that only commercial music is catered for.

This is a powerful player that lets you manage audio/video like no other. With its powerful encoding rates (up to 320Kbps), support for multiple-file ID3v2 tag editing and CDDB2, and its Media Server tool, you are sure to be able to do what you want.

The Media Server allows you to access files on remote PCs - Iin other words, you can play media files stored on your home PC at work.

Some features of this free version will stop working after 30 days, such as MP3 encoding up to 320Kbps, CD burning above 2x and some sound file modification.

Upgrade to the Plus version for $24.95 to regain full functionality.