Subsonic

Excellent free streaming media server

Subsonic is a media streaming server for PC users.

Subsonic includes just about anything you need to turn your home computer into a fully-featured media streaming server. While some missing codecs might need to be installed at initial start-up, Subsonic is relatively simple to get started with.

As an admin user with Subsonic, you'll be able to configure every single detail about your server, such as folders to be included in the media menu, user accounts and security settings, to name a few. As a common user, you have also plenty of features available, from downloading music files to rating songs - all depending on the permissions given by the admin. The whole process is done via the web, while the streamed media can be played with an array of media players including Winamp, Windows Media Player and iTunes. You can even make Last.fm register what you're listening to in Subsonic.

On the downside, and despite the simplicity of the program, users still might encounter problems performing certain tasks, especially in playlist management.

With a tool like Subsonic - and some spare time to configure it properly - you'll be able to turn your standard home PC into a professional media streaming server.