VLC media player app for Windows 8 arrives to the Store in beta

VLC app for Windows 8 download

VLC, the popular free media player on Windows — just because it can play pretty much any video and audio file — is finally arriving to the Windows Store. Today the VideoLan team is announcing the release of the first beta version of VLC media player (Metro-style) app for Windows 8.x, with a Windows RT version that will be available soon.

According to one of the developers the VLC media player app still a bit buggy, but it works, and people wanting to try the new app can download it now from the Windows Store.

Features

  • Works on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
  • VLC 0.2.0 only works on x86 Intel chips.
  • Windows RT isn’t currently supported, but it will soon after VLC is compile for ARM chips.
  • Support for all the audio and video file format that is supported in VLC, including OGG, MOV, MKV, FLAC, and MPC.
  • Support for the same codecs as the VideoLAN application for the desktop, such as MPEG-1 to H.265, passing through WMV3 and VC-1.
  • Support embedded subtitles.
  • Support multiple-audio tracks sections.
  • Support background audio playback.
  • Support for live tile
  • Support for removable storage and DLNA servers.

Known issues

  • VLC app for Windows 8 at the current stage is slow.
  • There is no hardware acceleration.
  • Subtitles don’t work very well.
  • Audio doesn’t seem to work in all configurations.
  • Streams and playlists aren’t supported.
  • Buggy.

These issues and other are being worked out, but there isn’t a time frame for a new update. What we know for sure is that the VideoLAN team is working on subtitles and audio quality, and to improve stability.

Source JBKempf

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.