Since it is based on MPlayer it can play pretty much any video format right out of the box without having to search for missing codecs on the Internet. It can play DVDs, supports various subtitle formats, provides multiple audio track access, playlist support and a lot more.

One of the more recent versions added support to search for subtitles in the Open Subtitles databases. Sure, there are other video players that offer a similar all-inclusive out of the box experience and it probably boils down to which was first installed on the computer system for those users.

Anyone else who is still using a video player that needs external codecs to play video formats should take a look at the latest version of SMPlayer as it makes that a thing of the past.

Most important changes in SMPlayer 0.6.7:

• Added experimental (and uncomplete) support for dvd menus. Requires a mplayer build compiled with dvdnav support. Please read dvdmenus.txt to know how to enable it.
• Now loading an external subtitle file doesn’t require to restart the mplayer process (except for idx/sub subtitles).
• (Playlist) When a file is added to the playlist, if it was already in the list, it’s moved to the end of the list.
• Options for mplayer: finally spaces in arguments between quotes are handled properly.
• Added two options (in the audio and subtitle menus) to allow the user to enter the audio and subtitle delay (in milliseconds).
• (ASS subtitles) The outline and shadow options now accept values with decimals.
• (ASS subtitles) Possibility to change the color of the border and shadow.
• Now the default value for the “correct pts” option is auto.
• (Windows) Now the screensaver is allowed to turn on if the file is paused or it’s an audio file.
• (Windows) The direct3d video output is now the default for Windows Vista.