Media Player Classic is a compact download that uses few system resources, and loses much of the bloat that characterises other players.

It looks just like Windows Media Player 6.4, and will therefore be familiar to most of you. Operation couldn't be any simpler, and it has most of the features you would expect.

File support is extensive, and includes QuickTime, AVI (incl. subtitles), Windows Media, Ogg, MP3 and CD Audio, along with playlist support.

A built-in DVD player is a bonus, and there's also a RealAlternative codec available which lets you play RealMedia files without the need for RealPlayer to be installed.

On the downside there is no CDDB support, but don't let this put you off.