"I downloaded a movie and my computer won't play it. The file is a MKV. What is an MKV file and how do I play an MKV file?"
MKV is the Matroska Multimedia Container, which is a video container similar to AVI or MOV. MKV files can have many different kinds of video and audio file formats stored inside them, which makes having the correct software for playback a little tricky. The MKV format has recently become a very popular format for sharing movies because it works well with subtitles and also retains the quality of high definition movies. To play a MKV file, I recommend one player solution.
If you've read any of my other articles, you know I'm a fan of VLC Player. Downloading VLC Player is the easiest way to playback any MKV file because VLC Player is the most likely solution to contain support for whatever is inside that MKV container.
After you download VLC Player, be sure to install it and configure VLC to be the default player for MKV files.
Assuming you set VLC Player as the default player for MKV files, you can then simply double click the file and it will start playing. The other option is to open VLC Player from your start menu and then drag and drop the file on to the player window to start playing your movie.
