I have lost count of the number of formats in which movies are available today. Ideally, Each of these formats requires a different player. I personally hate switching between different players each time I play a movie. After all
familiarity helps. All you ever need to open a movie file is the K-lite codec pack. It is available as a free download in the link below. It comes bundled with the media player classic - a stripped down version of the windows media player. Given you may miss the advanced options that comes along with some other players. this is a universal player that can play any movie format. A possible alternative to this would be the VLC player, provided it comes with better usability in future versions(The slider is a real pain to control).
Like a video that is on a site that streams them. I know a lot of people who waste their bandwidth viewing the same videos over n over again in sites like youtube which stream content and do not allow download. Well check this out, there are add-ons available that help you download streaming content. If you are a firefox user(Duh.. Most of us are) you have the videodownloadhelper add-on that is available in the official addons.mozilla.com. IE users do not feel left out, there is an IE version of a similar software that goes out by the name videodownloader.
Both these can download streaming content from a majority of the sites. They are not universal though.
This is one software that you should try out if you happen to use your PC for listening to music. It has a host of options for improving the quality of music you listen to. I was amazed at the results the first time I used it. If you happen to like Rock, The HyperBass would blow your mind. What's more its free. Do try it out. There is an enhanced version DFX Plus that is out there for money. The only offsetting thing seems to be that it works best with Media Player.
Well finally, someone who is ready to give it back to us. Another example of - It pays to be a firefox user, literally. Just sign up to the site and all it does is to add a extra option in your firefox search bar and lo, you start getting paid for each search you do. The searches are automatically routed to yahoo. It may be a bit of a setback if you are an avid googler, but hey you are getting paid to search :O . The payout limit is a little on the higher side though. An add-on to your computer and your paypal account. It pays real well for users in US and UK.
Please do read through the FAQ before you join. Below is my referral link( Jeez!! am not dumb to pass up on this).
P.S. All the above are available for free, never pay a penny.
