http://www.divx-digest.com/help.html Basically divx is a video codec you can use to encode video streams into the mpeg-4 format. The most popular use of the divx codec I think is for making copies of your dvds, compressing television shows you capture, compressing DV footage etc...
Yes yes... divx is just a codec ( co mpressor- de compressor) that allows for a high degree of compression with fairly little decrease in quality. DivX initially started off as a free open project and has since become close sourced (and no so free anymore). Of course the avg Joe can download the basic DivX codec for free as well as the fully featured Ad-supported Professional version, the real professional version is still gonna cost you some moolah. The other codec you may hear of used alongside with DivX is XviD. XviD is an opensource and free codec that offers more quality for the same filesize. The downside is that it is a pickier codec compared to DivX (although with the proper configuration there usually is no problem). For a complete listing of almost every codec required to watch a movie and the order to install them in... pay a visit to http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/48608
