All of us, to a greater or lesser extent, always fall into the temptation of downloading copyrighted content through the internet. While some users download all the content they have access to, others limit the download to old content or series and movies that are not available on the streaming video platforms they use.
The traditional and most common way to access all that content is the same as always: access the directory and double-click the movie so that it automatically plays with our default video player. However, there is a much more comfortable and simple way called Kodi.
What is Kodi
Kodi is an application that allows us to turn our computer into a multimedia center, a multimedia center that we can access remotely from any device to view the videos or images stored inside.
But, in addition, it is also commonly used to access TV channels that are only available if you pay a monthly fee.
Kodi first saw the light of day in 2003 for the original Xbox. Quickly, the application was ported to the rest of operating systems such as Linux, macOS and Windows and those that have been arriving later such as iOS, Android, tvOS, Raspberry Pi.
This application is free software, so it is available for download completely free of charge, it is available for all operating systems and it is also compatible with each and every one of the most used video and audio formats including subtitles.
It also allows us to reproduce most image formats, although this is not the main use made of this application.
Kodi Compatible Formats
Kodi is compatible with the physical formats CD, DVD, Blue-ray, Video CD, VCD, CDDA and Audio-CD
Formats of extensions compatible with Kodi
AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4, M4A, AAC, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia RAM / RM / RV / RA / RMVB, 3gp, VIVO, PVA, NUV, NSV, NSA, FLI , FLC and DVR-MS (beta support). It also supports the M3U format of playlists.
Video formats supported by Kodi
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.263, MPEG-4 SP and ASP, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, RealVideo, QuickTime, Sorenson, WMV, Cinepak
Kodi Compatible Audio Formats
AIFF, WAV / WAVE, MP2, MP3, AAC, AACplus, AC3, DTS, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, Monkey's Audio (APE), RealAudio, SHN, WavPack, MPC / Musepack / Mpeg +, Speex, Vorbis and WMA.
Image formats supported by Kodi
BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, MNG, ICO, PCX and Targa / TGA
Kodi Compatible Subtitle Format
AQTitle, ASS/SSA, CC, JACOsub, MicroDVD, MPsub, OGM, PJS, RT, SMI, SRT, SUB, VOBsub, VPlayer.
Formats not supported by Kodi
The Kodi app does not support DRM video and audio files. It is also not capable of reading multi-session CDs and DVDs.
How to download Kodi for Windows
As we always recommend when downloading free software, you always have to go to the official website. In this way, we will avoid not only that during the installation process we are strain extra applications, but we will also prevent some type of malware, spyware and other families from entering our computer.
The official website for Kodi is Kodi.tv. To download the version of Kodi for Windows or any version for other operating systems, we must go to the download section of the Kodi website through this link.
When clicking on the Windows logo, three versions will be displayed:
- 32 bits. Version for 32-bit computers and / or with a 32-bit version of Windows installed.
- 64 bit. Version for 64-bit computers with a 64-bit version of Windows installed.
- Windows Store (although now called Microsoft Store)
What version of Kodi to download?
Basically we have two options: from your website or from the Microsoft Store.
- If we only want create a media center To view our stored movies and photos, we can download the version from the Microsoft Store.
- But if we want access pay TV channels and / or other non-legal activities, we must download the version from the website.
The reason is none other than the possibility of edit certain .xml files so as not to have any limitation regarding the operation of the application available in the Microsoft Store.
Whichever you choose, the installation process is the same, as is that of configuring the application.
How to install Kodi on a Windows PC
The marketing process includesseveral phases that are reflected below: Kodi installation has no mysteryWe just have to follow the steps shown by the installer, accepting the conditions of service.
The most complicated is configure the appHowever, following the steps that I show you below will be a piece of cake.
The first thing to do is allow Kodi to connect to the internet through Windows Firewall. This is necessary to download internet content such as movie information, for example.
Next, we must change Kodi language to Spanish, since the application is installed with the interface in English. To change the language of Kodi to Spanish, click on the gear wheel, click on Interface - Regional and in the right column in Language
To use Spanish we search Spanish. For back to screen main, we press the ESC key.
Now we have to add multimedia content that we have stored on the computer. From the main screen click on Content - Collection and in the right column click on Videos.
Next, click on Add videos and we select the folder where the movies or series that we have stored on our computer are located through the button Buscar.
Next, we must select the type of content that is: Movies, Series or Music Videos So that, the application shows us from which database it will collect the information that it will show with each movie or series chapter.
Before exiting that window, we must click on Settings and set Spanish as the language for the information that will be displayed in the application.
For return to main screen, we press the ESC key.
To access the movies we have added from Kodi, from the main screen click on Movies. Next, all the movies that we have added will be shown with a preview of it and its description.
In the lower right, it is shows duration, resolution, sound type, format… Of the movies on which we place the mouse. To play a movie, we press twice or the Enter key.
Once playback has started, moving the mouse will show the control bar that allows us to move forward, backward, pause or stop playback. In addition, in the lower right part, there is a gear wheel that allows us to select the audio track we want, add subtitles ...