RealPlayer much maligned, very useful
RealPlayer has a reputation for selling itself too hard and for making changes to a computer system without informed user consent. Real has reformed but the reputation continues. Apple’s iTunes, which installs QuickTime, Apple Updater, Bonjour and lots of other crapware without explicit user consent, seems immune to criticism.
The RealPlayer media player is an extremely useful tool. It has one feature that I find compelling – PerfectPlay. This feature allows you to buffer streaming audio, to pause and restart where you paused. You can set RealPlayer to cache up to 12 hours of an audio stream. When the phone rings or you need to temporarily leave the room you can pause the audio. When you return, you can restart the audio exactly where you paused.