- Apr 25, 2013
- 5,355
When Microsoft launched Windows 8 several companies, Google, Mozilla and VLC for example, decided to create app-versions of their desktop programs.
While that did not turn out to well for most who did so, the Firefox Metro version got pulled by Mozilla for example, VLC had to commit resources as development was fueled by a Kickstarter campaign and backer money.
The video player was launched later than expected and is still only available as a beta as of of today.
Its functionality is extremely limited when compared to the desktop version of VLC Media Player and to make matters worse, it is not compatible with ARM systems which would benefit the most from the player as desktop programs cannot be run on it.
The VLC team released an update of the player today which introduces support for Windows 8.1 and also Windows 10. Most of the application seems to have been rewritten by the team to port it to Windows 8.1.
According to the notes, the update should improve the player's video decoding performance significantly so that lag and related issues should be a issue of the past for most users.
Last but not least, several crash issues and bugs were fixed in the newest version as well.
Windows 8.x or Windows 10 users who have the app installed already on their PCs will receive the update automatically if they have enabled the operating system's automatic update feature for apps.
The VLC for Windows 8 app can also be downloaded directly from Windows Store if it is not installed yet on the system.
Closing Words
The update improves the player in several ways and makes it fully compatible with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. That's a good thing without doubt. A Windows Phone and Windows RT version is still missing but in the making apparently. It is unclear however when those versions will be made available.
For now it is without doubt better to use the desktop version of VLC in most cases as it offers better functionality, stability and customization options.
Source
While that did not turn out to well for most who did so, the Firefox Metro version got pulled by Mozilla for example, VLC had to commit resources as development was fueled by a Kickstarter campaign and backer money.
The video player was launched later than expected and is still only available as a beta as of of today.
Its functionality is extremely limited when compared to the desktop version of VLC Media Player and to make matters worse, it is not compatible with ARM systems which would benefit the most from the player as desktop programs cannot be run on it.
The VLC team released an update of the player today which introduces support for Windows 8.1 and also Windows 10. Most of the application seems to have been rewritten by the team to port it to Windows 8.1.
According to the notes, the update should improve the player's video decoding performance significantly so that lag and related issues should be a issue of the past for most users.
Last but not least, several crash issues and bugs were fixed in the newest version as well.
Windows 8.x or Windows 10 users who have the app installed already on their PCs will receive the update automatically if they have enabled the operating system's automatic update feature for apps.
The VLC for Windows 8 app can also be downloaded directly from Windows Store if it is not installed yet on the system.
Closing Words
The update improves the player in several ways and makes it fully compatible with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. That's a good thing without doubt. A Windows Phone and Windows RT version is still missing but in the making apparently. It is unclear however when those versions will be made available.
For now it is without doubt better to use the desktop version of VLC in most cases as it offers better functionality, stability and customization options.
Source
