I am pleased to announce that the RealPlayer 10 for Linux and the underlying
100% open source Helix Player 1.0 have gone gold and are available for
download via the  <https://player.helixcommunity.org> Helix Player Project
site. The RealPlayer is also available from  <http://www.real.com/linux>
www.real.com/linux , RealNetworks' consumer website.

Basic Features of the players
Gtk+/Gnome interface
Accelerated Video and FullScreen Playback
Support for free and open mediatypes - Ogg Vorbis/Theora, H261
Mozilla browser plug-in
RTSP streaming
Elegant UI
Installer and RPM packages

RealPlayer 10 for Linux adds the following features
Real Audio/ Real Video
MP3, Flash playback
More robust RTSP via RDT

You can find binary installers, rpm packages and binary tarballs of the
players in the player project download area. The Helix Player is now under
the GPL (GNU General Public License) and you can download the source
tarballs from the same area. We also have released untested/experimental
versions of players for PowerPC Linux and Solaris (Sparc). Packages for
other distributions and Operating Systems (Gentoo, Debian, BeOS etc.), ports
to other architectures and platforms (Solaris-x86, MIPS etc.) are underway
in the community. We are also on the verge of releasing localized versions
of the player in nine languages - an event that is (by the number of
volunteers coming this way) anticipated with much enthusiasm.

There have been some awesome milestones for the players along the way to
gold. The project won "Best Open Source Project" award at LinuxWorld New
York. Sun, Novell, Red Hat and TurboLinux have stepped up to the plate and
have announced that they would help qualify and distribute the RealPlayer
with their upcoming desktop releases. Thanks to some awesome work from
Fedora & Helix enthusiasts Helix Player is now available as part of Fedora
(and should soon be updated to the gold version). There have been deb
packages and Gentoo ebuilds of the Helix Player as well.

I would like to thank all of you for the encouragement and inspiration. Our
gratitude to the numerous volunteers and contributors - our "virtual" team
members who bore with us as the project took its baby steps early on. I
believe that we have created together a player that all of you can be proud
of and once again, kudos to all that have helped the player project get
here! Very exciting times are ahead and I look forward to working with you
as we move towards the next release.

Here are a few useful links:
RealPlayer Quick Download (x86 binary installer and rpm only):
http://www.real.com/linux  
Comprehensive Player Download area:
<https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/downloads/>
https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/downloads/
ReleaseNotes for the RealPlayer:
<https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/releases/rp10gold/RealPlayer10G
oldReleaseNotes.html>
https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/releases/rp10gold/RealPlayer10Go
ldReleaseNotes.html
ReleaseNotes for the Helix Player:
<https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/releases/hx1gold/HelixPlayer1Re
leaseNotes.html>
https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/releases/hx1gold/HelixPlayer1Rel
easeNotes.html
Which Player is right for me - FAQ:
<https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/helixrealfaq.html>
https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/helixrealfaq.html
Comprehensive FAQ:
<https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/help/playerfaq.html>
https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/unix/help/playerfaq.html
Localization Pages: https://player.helixcommunity.org/2004/l10n/index.html
Forums:  <https://helixcommunity.org/forum/?group_id=154>
https://helixcommunity.org/forum/?group_id=154 
Mailing Lists:  <https://helixcommunity.org/mail/?group_id=154>
https://helixcommunity.org/mail/?group_id=154
Looking up/Filing Issues:
<https://helixcommunity.org/tracker/?group_id=154>
https://helixcommunity.org/tracker/?group_id=154 (need to login to
helixcommunity first)

We would love to recieve your feedback on the player and
suggestions/requests for the future versions. While I strongly recommend
using the mailing lists and/or the forums for this purpose, I also welcome
direct feedback on the usability of the player.
 
Thank you and enjoy the release!
V
 
----
Vikram Dendi
Program Manager & Project Lead
Helix Players for Unix & RealPlayer 10 for Linux
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