RealPlayer 11 is going to be a major departure for the longtime streaming video software maker. Announced this week, RealPlayer 11 will support WindowsMedia, QuickTime, Flash, and – obviously – Real. No biggie there. What’s sure to turn more heads when it comes out next month is that it will also support downloads of those videos. So if you have the RP11 software and you’re watching an embedded Flash video, RP11 will have a “Download This Video” button. (Yes, there are other programs that do this, but that’s still a pretty controversial trick for a mainstream product.) For $29.99, RealPlayer 11 Plus will support burning that file to a DVD. Still, there have been plenty of gripes over the years about Real: difficult-to-find free players, spyware, popups and other annoyances. Many of these have been corrected, but there is still a huge perception problem. Also, the online video movement has been, inescapably, toward Flash. Can Real and Windows Media pull things out with their latest upgrades?
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