XBMC aka XBox Media Center is a free cross-platform media player software and entertainment system application framework for Linux, Mac, and Windows. XBMC is capable of playing back and streaming all popular video, audio, and picture formats out-of-the-box.
Update 2004: XBMC is now known as Kodi. Actually it was first called Xbox Media Player, then XBox Media Center, and now Kodi.
Kodi is managed by the non-profit XBMC Foundation, and it's constantly being modified and upgraded.
Kodi needs a 3D capable graphics hardware controller for all rendering. Powerful 3D GPU chips are common today in most modern computer platforms, including many set-top boxes, and XBMC, now Kodi, was from the start designed to be otherwise very resource efficient. It runs well on what are relatively underpowered systems and with older OpenGL 1.3 , OpenGL ES 2.0 or Direct3D (DirectX) 9.0 capable systems. When software decoding of a full HD 1080p high-definition and high bit-rate video is performed by the system CPU, a dual-core 2 GHz or faster CPU is required.
Review
Unless you like constantly eating up all of your valuable time tweaking, tuning and constantly fixing streaming software, then Kodi is not for you. It works for awhile, at first, then craps out. I don't know if it corrupts itself, falls victim to poorly written plugin updates that don't cleanly uninstall, or what the deal is, but you can only get about a month or two at the most before the entire thing starts going to pot.
The Kodi user interface is recursive and as far from intuitive as an old MS DOS version of Microsoft Word. Many interface items are circular and lead you back to the same place after a series of menu selections. Configuration is nightmarish with common features in remote places no where near the same options screen.
Documentation is also poor, often times making reference to interface options that have been moved or renamed in current versions. Furthermore, many plugin help guides make reference to features in Kodi that only a developer would fully understand.
It is apparent that Kodi is developed by a bunch of loosely assembled individuals with no common UI concept and not functioning as a team. Horrible!
Kodi is not for someone that expects to invest some reasonable time into the initial install and configuration to enjoy many hours of use. It doesn't stay working! Plan to invest time into fixing and troubleshooting on a regular basis.
Kodi is total rubbish!
Operating System
Kodi can run on several operating systems. Kodi can be installed on many platforms to create a great HTPC. Operating systems include: Linux, Micro$oft Windows, Macintosh OSX, Android, and iOS. Kodi can run on a number of devices besides the personal computer including mobile devices and tablets.
There are some specific operating systems built for direct support of KODI, which are typically Linux based. Some examples include:
- LibreELEC
- OpenELEC
- OSMC
- Xbian
Addons
Legitimate Addons
The most common addons are for the purpose of viewing streaming content. Many Addons are for providing legal and copyright free streaming video or audio and is available in the Public Domain.
- Crackle - (video, movies) now owned by Sony, has some good legal content
- iPlayer WWW.
- SpotiMC / Spotify - (streaming music)
- TuneIn Radio.
- FilmsOn.TV.
- Twitch - (gaming content)
- Plex
- YouTube - (video)
- PopcornFlix - (video)
Pirate Addons
Endorsement or encouragement of copyright infringement is not encouraged here. This information is for educational purposes only.
- Exodus Redux - movies
- The Magic Dragon
update: 2019 Exodus is all but dead. Covenant or Genesis Reborn are current. use Trakt to manage.
Troubleshooting
Where do we start? The best universal fix to Kodi is to uninstall it.