If you are like me and shy away from RealPlayer because of all the “junk” it installs with and the persistent nagging, well you don’t need to anymore. Check out RealAlternative (as of now at v1.33) which lets you play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer (or RealOne player).

You do need a player that is capable of playing RealMedia. The included Media Player Classic supports it and works very well. Supported: RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt), ReadPix (.rp), RealMedia embedded in web pages. .smi and .smil files sometimes only play the first part of a clip. This is a limitation of the current Media Player Classic. The RealMedia Browser plug in supports Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape and Mozilla.