[kitty_kat]

i just purchased a new computer with linspire 4.5 as the OS.

so far i like it, but in many ways it's like being computer illiterate. linspire didn't come with mplayer (though it does try to get me to join 'CNR' and d/l it from there) or, as far as i can see, any multimedia device that would allow me to play a dvd, vcd, etc. when i google media players for linux, it all seems to be...complicated. building it from source, binary this and that, etc. and that makes NO sense to me, as i've never used linux before.

if anyone can suggest a specific player, and then walk me through downloading/installing etc, that would be really really great.

one specific thing i'd like to be able to play would be dvds that were compressed onto a cd-r (.avi file, and i'm not sure but i believe the codec was divx...or something?)

all help is much appreciated! thanks!