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Guides and News on Codecs and Multimedia

550 guides and news articles on codecs, media players and the tools around them, newest first.

22 new in the last 7 days

NewsSep 30, 20262,083 views4 min read

Windows 11 26H2 Is Out - How to Get It Now, ISO and USB Included

How to get the free Windows 11 26H2 update today, from the one-restart Windows Update route to the full ISO and a Rufus USB installer.

GuideSep 29, 20267,564 views6 min read

Best Linux Distros for Beginners: 5 Easy Picks for Windows Switchers

Five beginner-friendly Linux distros for Windows and Mac switchers, with RAM needs, old-PC picks and a safe way to test from a USB stick.

GuideSep 29, 20265,446 views6 min read

Portable SSD on Android: Watch 4K Movies Without Filling Your Phone

Carry your whole film library on a portable SSD and play it on an Android phone - the cable, the format and the free player apps that make it work.

NewsSep 29, 20261,889 views2 min read

Googlebook: An Android Laptop That Knows Your Phone

Google's Android-powered Googlebook laptops arrive October 4 from $899 - what they are, how they link to your phone, and which of your apps come along.

GuideSep 29, 20262,976 views3 min read

Stop Converting iPhone Photos to JPEG: The Free Microsoft Fix for Windows

What converting iPhone HEIC photos to JPEG really costs, when it is still worth doing, and the two free components that let Windows open the originals.

GuideSep 29, 20264,659 views5 min read

Free Spotify Alternative: Build Your Own Music and Radio Playlist With M3U

Swap a streaming subscription for a free M3U playlist of radio, YouTube and IPTV links, built and checked with five free tools, plus the player to open it.

GuideSep 28, 202618,431 views4 min read

Convert Video and Audio Files With VLC - No Extra Software

VLC's built-in converter, step by step - how to change format, extract audio, and what to do when the output file will not play.

NewsSep 28, 20261,437 views5 min read

Firefox 157 Moves AV1 Video Calls Onto Your Graphics Chip

Firefox 157 finally lets your graphics chip decode AV1 in web video calls - which PCs qualify, the free Windows add-on it may need, and how to check.

GuideSep 28, 202641,340 views5 min read

Best GPU for Video Encoding in 2026: NVIDIA vs AMD vs Intel

Which graphics card encodes video best in 2026 - NVIDIA, AMD or Intel - with encoder counts, AV1 and 4:2:2 support, and when your current card is enough.

GuideSep 28, 202611,114 views6 min read

FLV vs MP4: How to Rescue Your Old Flash Videos

Why FLV stopped working, how to play those files today, and the quickest way to convert them to MP4 without losing quality.

NewsSep 28, 2026977 views2 min read

Windows Media Player Skins Die on November 10 - Here's How to Keep Your Look

Microsoft is ending skin support in Windows Media Player Legacy on Windows 11 - here's what stops working and which free players still let you change the look.

GuideSep 28, 202620,904 views5 min read

How to Create a Bootable USB Recovery Drive for Windows 10 and 11

Build a Windows recovery USB with the built-in tool or with Rufus, and learn which one can reinstall Windows on any PC rather than just yours.

GuideSep 28, 202613,819 views4 min read

Samsung TV Won't Play XviD or DivX? Change One Code, Not the Whole File

Why a Samsung QLED refuses an AVI that plays fine on your PC, and the four-letter tag change that fixes it in seconds without re-encoding.

GuideSep 27, 202646,852 views5 min read

YouTube Music Sounds Thin? Change This One Setting

The 128kbps default, the 256kbps High setting and where to find it - plus the part most guides skip, which is that High needs Premium.

GuideSep 27, 202616,857 views6 min read

Best Free Video Players for Mac That Play Any Format (2026)

Five free Mac players that open MKV and HEVC without paid extensions - VLC, IINA, mpv, Kodi and Elmedia, and what each one is actually for.

GuideSep 27, 20265,512 views3 min read

iPhone HEIC Photos Won't Open on Windows? The 2-Minute Fix

Why iPhone HEIC photos show blank thumbnails on a PC, the two free extensions that fix it, and the iPhone settings that send JPEGs instead.

GuideSep 25, 202612,338 views3 min read

How to Update HEVC Video Extensions on Windows 11 and 10

Check your HEVC extension version, update it by hand in the Microsoft Store and switch on automatic updates, with the Windows 10 version limit explained.