DivX Pro for Mac (incl DivX Player) Editor's Review

DivX for Mac is a package that allows you to play and encode DivX movies on your Apple computer.

This video format has been developed by DivX, the company that has developed the DivX MPEG-4 subset. This Professional package includes a set of tools, from which some are free.

The package has the following elements: DivX Codec Pro, which is a six months trial component and has the DivX free community codec available within the package, DivX Converter, which is a fifteen days trial component, DivX Player, which is free, and DivX Web Player, which is also free. Depending on your own needs, you can decide if it's worth buying a license for the DivX Codec Pro and DivX Converter.

DivX Converter is the official tool that allows you to create DivX 6 movies. It was designed with simplicity. All you do is to drag-and-drop the desired file onto its window. If you like to process many files, a batch conversion feature is also available. In order to make your life easier, DivX Converter can automatically create the HTML code which you can place on your Web page, if you have one, in order to publish your videos.

The DivX Codec Pro is an element, which can be used by every application that uses the encoding codecs. For creating your videos, you can use either DivX Converter or other tools, like QuickTime Pro or any other application that gives you the encoding functionality.

The DivX Player is a decent video player. It can play other formats that you can usually find inside an AVI container, MPEG-1, or MPEG-2 formats, if the required decoders are available. For example, I tested it with an AVI, which uses XviD encoding. It played the file without any trouble.

Another thing I liked was that the player displayed the video in full screen mode. Usually this isn't a big deal for all the decent players, but since Apple's policy about things like this, is not to give it out free, then maybe it's a big deal after all. Luckily, for QuickTime fans there is Fullscreen4Free.

Pluses: the converter is pretty easy to use and it gives you some nice features. The Pro version of the codec is a strong MPEG-4 implementation. The player is a good alternative to other Mac video players.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: this is a complete package that gives you the possibility to create, play, and share your own DivX videos. There are certified home theaters that can play this video format. In fact, DivX Inc. wants a piece of this market.

version reviewed: 6.6