Since BSplayer went adware, I've been looking for a good free decoder, Inmatrix makes the Zoom player which is free and seems to work very well. The best thing is that they are very clear on what decoders you need to play specific formats. Super useful since there are so many incompatible codecs.
I've also tried vlc which seems to be able to play many things that others can't, but I don't like the user interface as much as Zoom.
Your blog keeps coming up in my searches, so I thought I would be bold enough to ask a question, at risk of being inappropriate. I just setup my HP Windows XP Media Center. It comes with a Realtek 880 onboard sound card. I have a the Logitech 5300 speakers connected to the 3 analog outputs on the card. Everything works great as far as anything sourced from the computer - 5.1 surround as expected. However, I also have a Motorola 6200 STB with an audio digital out - SPDIF connector. I have connected it to the SPDIF input on the computer. When I am watching television through the STB I am expecting to hear the audio through my computer (it's now the only audio I have other than the speakers in the television). Should this not work? I have verified the STB is outputting a digital signal by connecting it to another receiver I have with the same digital coax input. Obviously the speakers are connected properly and working. Can the computer not decode the digital signal for some reason? Do I need some special codec? Do I need to be running some software to have the decoding occur? Does the card not provide the function of decoding the digital signal and outputting on the analog speakers? Lot's of questions. I have spent hours researching to no avail, and I hope you might be able to offer some advise or help. Thanks for any consideration.