Free DivX Create Bundle for Windows - Thursday Only

Got a hot lead from Threadwatch (hot lead sounds a lot more cool than "I just read this while petting my cat and drinking my morning joe") that DivX is having itself a bit of an anniversary party and therefore giving away the store. Or, at least the DivX Create Bundle for Windows.

You might be like my S.O. who immediately navigated to the site and started merrily downloading away, but then turned to me with an anxious look and asked, "DivX is what now?" Here's a good explanation from About's trusty guide to computers and networking, Bradley Mitchell:

"DivX is a popular encoding standard for digital movies (video files). DivX is based on the industry standard MPEG-4 compression format.

DivX technology allows movies to be compressed to a fraction of their original size. Downloading movies on BitTorrent and other P2P networks commonly involves DivX formatted files to conserve bandwidth. Any of several available DivX players open and play back these files.

Using DivX compression dramatically speeds up the download of movies on P2P networks. Typical movies or television programs with DivX compression applied may shrink by 85% or more from the original. Several available DivX compression tools generate these files."

So there you have it. The free swag includes:

• DivX Converter: The DivX Converter™ allows you to convert nearly any digital video into a DivX® media file in one easy step with its simple ‘drag and drop’ functionality.
• DivX Pro codec:Offering the best combination of quality, performance and compression of any video codec on the market, DivX Pro™ is the digital video codec of choice for professional filmmakers and discerning amateur enthusiasts alike.
• DivX Player:The DivX Player™ is capable of playing every DivX file ever created, with integrated support for advanced features of the DivX Media Format and special enhancements for high definition (HD) playback, providing the ideal way to enjoy all your DivX videos.

Related: If you're in the mood for movies, you might want to check out my list of free movie downloads.