OStatic

Most users of proprietary software arm themselves with arrays of digital entertainment applications, ranging from iTunes to Windows Media Player to RealPlayer. That's due to big improvements in the bandwidth everyone gets, attention from content providers, and more. The good news is that for open sourcers, digital entertainment applications have matured -- big-time -- for Windows, Linux and the Mac. Even if you use proprietary applications such as iTunes for music, or Windows Media Player for videos, there are many open source applications that can complement and add to your libraries, collections and players. You'll find 10 good roundups of open source digital entertainment resources here, and more than 50 total free applications.?

Back in December, MediaPortal 1.0, an open source application that turns a PC/TV into a sophisticated media center and digital video recorder, arrived. Originally based on the XBMC project, version 1.0 was a nearly complete redesign, and has gotten quite a bit of notice, despite a few bugs. On March 15th, the folks behind MediaPortal plan to release a 1.0.1 version with usability improvements. Along with the Plex media center for Mac OS X (MediaPortal is Windows only), Boxee for Linux and the Mac, and MythTV for Linux, the open source community is pushing strongly into video and rich media content management. Here are some good resources if you're evaluating these media center apps.?

As noted on Lifehacker, the new beta version of open source media center application Plex offers support for Hulu. Plex is for Mac OS X users only, and is noted for its glitzy, skinnable interface. Like Boxee, which was recently forced to remove support for Hulu content, Plex is a fork of the XBMC Media Center project. Here, you can view screencasts showing how Plex and its galaxy of plug-ins work.