Kodi 17.6 / 18.0 RC 4 (x64)

Have you heard of the software, Kodi, the home theater software that has been quite talked about in this digital age? If not, this review may help you determine if it's a handy application you need to add to your software library to enhance your audio and video entertainment experience.

Formerly known as XBMC, Kodi is actually an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software.

It is a media player and entertainment hub that can be used with televisions and remote controls.

Kodi caused quite a stir because of the allegation that it makes it easy to stream videos, especially copyright-protected videos and movies illegally.

The thing is, the software itself is legal. If you use third-party plugins to access copyright-protected videos, then how you use it makes it illegal.

Kodi is a great tool to use to enjoy and even manage your collection of photos, music, and videos. You can access your media collection through Kodi as a customizable interface.

The software can be installed on Linux, OSX, Windows, iOS, and Android. It has a beautiful user-interface and is quite easy to use.

Support is managed by enthusiasts, volunteers, and a tech community. Many tech forums and Wiki discuss the software itself, its features and functions with much enthusiasm.

New users will find it simple to learn how to maximize their use of Kodi thanks to the many help and discussion avenues online - plus the notes of the application developer.

One thing to get out of the way is that Kodi itself does not provide any media. Users can take advantage of third-party services or sources or use their own media collection. This means that the Kodi project does not provide any support for bootleg video content.

Moving forward, the software is supposed to be used and hooked up to a large screen TV or monitor, but can also be used on mobile devices and laptops.

• Media player software
• Smart TV platform
• Digital media player
• Digital video recorder

• A multi-platform home-theater PC (HTPC) application
• Highly customizable with a wide variety of skins to choose from
• Has various plug-ins to allow users to access streaming media through sites like Amazon Prime Instant Video, Crackle, Pandora Internet Radio, Rhapsody, Spotify, and YouTube
• Has personal video-recorder (PVR) feature with a graphical front-end for receiving live television with electronic program guide (EPG) and high-definition digital video recorder (DVR) support.

Need to access subtitles, lyrics, games or video streaming sites? The software allows you to access these through the extensive collection of add-ons and extensions for extra services.

Kodi is best viewed in full-screen mode. If you're using devices with a smaller screen, there is a window mode for you as well. Although it might have a bit of a learning curve, Kodi really does amp up media playing and the whole experience for users.

The overwhelming number of plugins make it hard for a new user to sort through to find out which works best. Trying to understand the software and how you can maximize its use alone can be challenging. So check out the Kodi Community Forum to learn from the experiences of others.

Play music through Spotify or stream videos on YouTube and have the entire family enjoy it with your home theater software. Connect to your TV and control by a remote than with a keyboard or mouse for the best media experience.