Moovida, the popular cross-platform GStreamer-using media centre, are lunching a new desktop media player application ” called Moovida Core - as part of its’ âMoovida 2.0‘ strategy. The player, which uses Banshee as its backend, is currently available for download on Windows with Linux and OS X versions to follow shortly. 
The decisions to provide two UI’s â” a media centre view called âImmersed’ and a desktop application version â” is smart. Both have unique advantages in the respective forms and widen the potential user install field.
âWhile working on Moovida 1.0, it was clear that media center usability had certain drawbacks,
especially when it came to manipulating ï¬le information such as creating playlists, managing and editing ï¬les – actions that can be performed more quickly on a ï¬exible desktop app. Our focus is still the media center environment, however, when complimented by a ï¬exible desktop app, we believe the media center user experience is far superior.â
Moovida 2.0 will also see the project becoming âcommercial’ software. Whilst the applications themselves will remain free to download, optional premium content services and ad-supported models will be utilized. 
Banshee with ads
Moovida Core is essentially âBanshee’ with a few optimal tweaks and some several proprietary services, plug-ins and, somewhat distastefully, adverts bolted on.
The premium content to be offered via the media centre version (and likely applicable to the desktop application) may offer some incentive over regular âBanshee’, but as is I can’t help but fail to see the major draw for Linux users to switch from Banshee to Moovida Core.
For Windows users this is a great pull. Banshee is a fantastic player and the collaboration with Fluendo/Moovida will hopefully result in the OS X and Windows ports of stock Banshee being hastened. The application currently uses almost double the resources of iTunes â” which can also play video like Banshee â” but who cares about that when you’ve got some partially-open-source goodness rocking on your desktop!
The complete Moovida 2.0 software, including Moovida Core desktop app and the Moovida Immersed media center extension are scheduled for release in June 2010.