The developers have contacted me again today, letting me know that they rebuild the software from scratch, resolved two of the three issues found in the January version and are running a giveaway until October 28.

That’s reason enough to take a new look at the DVD ripping application. Not a lot has changed if you compare the new application interface with the old one. The new interface looks modern and more professional than the old one.

Ripping DVDs is still a three stepped process. It begins by loading a DVD from disc or folder (discs inserted into a drive will be recognized automatically), selecting an output format and clicking the start button to start the ripping.

Among the available output formats are DVD to DVD copy for 1:1 copies of the DVD, to formats like avi, mp4 or mov, and to devices such as the iPad, iPhone or Zune. DVD copy and conversion into an iPad compatible format are two of the new options in this version of the software.

Selecting one of the available options lists various quality and ripping settings. If avi is selected, it is for instance possible to change the audio and video quality settings, and select the number of cpu cores for the conversion.

Profiles are available if a device is selected. Profiles can be used to pick a quality setting with two clicks. That’s very comfortable. Profiles are unfortunately still not available for formats.

Processed videos are now named based on patterns defined in the program’s options. This is great as it makes the identification easier, especially if multiple videos are processed in short succession.

What else is new?

• Rebuilt WinX DVD Ripper Platinum with brand-new frame work based on user feedback to maximally conform to common usage.
• Output MP4 video with AAC 2 Channels, AAC 4 Channels and AAC 6 Channels supported.
• Support AVI container, keeping original DVD AC3/DTS 6 Channels audio track.
• Output WMV and MPEG video with original DVD AC3/DTS 6 Channels audio track.
• Improved WMV encoder to fit the requirement of Windows Media Center. Backup DVD to WMV with AC3/DTS audio and stream to PS3 & Xbox 360.
• Significantly increase H.264 encoder speed. Better support for Multi-core CPU.
• Optimized the support for iPhone 4, iPad, iPod 4 and other iOS 4 video players.
• New software UI.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is an excellent DVD ripping software for the Windows operating system. To grab a free license code users need to visit the giveaway page on the developer homepage to download the application and grab the license code. License codes are offered for the Windows and Mac version of the software, but only the Windows version is linked from the giveaway page. WinX DVD Ripper for Mac can be downloaded here instead. Please note that I have not tried this version and license code.

The user loads a DVD into the program by clicking on the Disc button in the top button row which opens a small drive letter selection window. WinX DVD Ripper Platinum will then scan the disc and display the contents of it on the right side. The program can rip normal DVD video disks but also copy protected DVDs including those protected with CSS, Sony ArccOS and newer copy protections like those used in blockbusters like The Dark Knight or Star Trek.

Each of the titles that are stored on the DVD are presented with information including the title’s playtime, the resolution and format and audio, video and subtitle information. Checkboxes are used to select those titles that should be ripped with the first title always preselected by the DVD ripper.

A small selection interface below the title listing can be used to change the output settings including the audio used in the output (if multiple audio tracks are stored on the DVD), subtitles, an alternative start and end time plus the output folder.

The default audio and subtitle language can be changed in the program’s options so that the preferred language selected by the user will be picked by the program automatically if available.

The lower half of the screen contains the formats that the DVD can be ripped to. This is divided into general formats like avi, mp4, mpeg or flv but also device specific formats including formats for devices such as the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, PSP, PDA or 3GP.

Selecting a different video output format can change the available configuration options at the bottom of the screen. They usually consist of fine tuning audio and video quality settings but may sometimes contain multiple pre-configured profiles that can be selected.

This is for instance the case if the iPhone is selected as the output device.

A click on the start button after making the selection will start the DVD ripping process. This opens a new window that will display the progress of the operation.

Options to shutdown the computer when the conversion has been completed or to open the output folder are provided in the menu.

Installation and Download

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum can be downloaded for free today at the Giveaway of the Day website. The product, if installed today, will remain free and fully licensed. The website of the developer of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum offers trial downloads of the software and additional information about it.

The software comes as a zip file which will extract a text document with instructions and a setup.exe. All that it takes to install and register the DVD ripper is to double-click the setup.exe and to follow the installation until it completes.

Positive

• Easy to use
• Can rip copy protected DVDs
• DVD ripping does not slow down the computer

Negative

• No preview option
• No custom DVD ripping profiles (only for devices but not general)
• No option to change the output file name

You might also want to take a look at our previews review of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum. The program is a very comfortable easy to use DVD ripper that worked fine with every DVD we asked it to rip.

The developers of the free version were also offering a commercial version on their website called WinX DVD Ripper Platinum. The commercial version provides access to additional features and advanced settings making it worthwhile for some users. The free version could for instance not rip a DVD straight into a format supported by Apple’s iPhone or iPod. Users who wanted that functionality had to use a video converter to do that which usually meant double the work and time.

Why are we writing all this? Because the developers have decided to offer WinX DVD Ripper Platinum for free in September. You can head right over to their website and download the commercial version of this excellent DVD ripping software for free. A quick chat with one of the representatives of the company revealed that minor updates will be available for free as well while major updates, e.g. a version bump to 6, would not be free but could be purchased for a small amount of money. Updates are not mandatory on the other hand which means that users can work with the version of the DVD ripper for as long as they like.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum will automatically recognize video DVDs. The structure of the DVD is automatically displayed in the program’s interface with the main movie selected by default. The interface looks pretty much like the one used in WinX DVD Ripper with the exception of a few additions. Options to convert the DVD to various formats that are supported by devices like iPods, Apple TVs, PDA or Zune are displayed next to the general format options known from the free version of the software program.

Next to the additional devices that are supported by the platinum version of WinX DVD Ripper are the inclusion of a high definition encoding engine which promises a superior audio and video quality over its free version of the software.

The DVD ripper can rip copy protected DVDs and supports all other features of the free version. Users who are looking for a reliable and easy to use DVD ripping software might want to download this program and install it for a test ride. The offer to download the premium version of WinX DVD Ripper for free lasts until the end of September.