DivX Labs has posted a new beta version of its Player software for Mac OS X. This new beta is a Universal Binary version designed to work either on PowerPC or Intel-based Macs.
DivX makes a video compression technology (codec) that it offers for Windows and Mac OS X as an alternative to Apple’s QuickTime. DivX says its codec produces results even better than H.264, which is supported by QuickTime 7.
The DivX 6 codec was released for the Mac in December — it was also bundled with Roxio’s popular Toast 7 Titanium CD and DVD disc burning software.
The DivX Player software provides the ability to watch video encoded using DivX, and does more as well — it also supports AVI files, QuickTime movies, MPEG-4 movies and more. It’s a free download.
The Mac OS X beta version, first released in February, now features a “Desktop Dimmer” that fades your entire desktop except the DivX Player, to enhance the movie watching experience. Improvements in the new beta include drag and drop support, improved keyboard control and more.
The first beta release was available in two separate versions — one optimized for PowerPC-based Macs, another for Intel-based Macs. With the Beta 2 release, DivX now includes a Universal Binary that works natively on either computer.
DivX also recently published DivX Web Player, a self-contained Mac OS X and Windows application that lets you view DivX-encoded content from Web pages.
System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later.