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- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: December 11, 2006
- Total Downloads: 15,604,060
- Downloads last week: 122,834
- See full specifications
A newer version of VLC Media Player is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 1873 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
When it comes to video files, nothing is ever as easy as it should be. Thankfully, VLC Media Player offers a one-stop solution for the file-format problem. The program supports playback of OGG, MP2, MP3, MP4, DivX, DVD, and a whole slew of other file types. In addition, it also can function as a streaming media server. Because of its open-source foundation, VLC Media Player evolves quickly, with new features and fixes released frequently.
Though the interface varies from platform to platform, the sparseness of the Windows version leaves plenty to be desired. The skinned mode perks things up slightly, but the program seems to suffer from unpredictable behavior when skinned. Also, the basic task of opening a file is far more confusing than it should be; the program gives you several options, including the head-scratching Quick Open File. Overall, though, VLC Media Player is a must-have application for its ability to open just about any type of video file you throw at it.
Watch the CNET video review of VLC Media Player:
Publisher's description
From VideoLAN Project :VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, and OGG, as well as for DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It also can be used as a server for unicast or multicast streams in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.
The most prominent additions to version 0.8.6 are probably Windows Media Video 9 and Flash Video. Other important changes are improved H.264 decoding, better Windows Unicode support, and a full-screen controller
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User reviews of VLC Media Player 0.8.6
- Average user rating: 4.2 stars out of 1873 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 57 user reviewsSee all 57 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
27 out of 30 people found this review helpful
Version: VLC Media Player 0.8.6
"Fantastic, amazing, everything."
Pros: It plays ALL the files I always needed two or more different programs for. Using WMP gets annoying sometimes when it can't play common files that almost every other program can. Then those programs can't play some files others can play and it makes you dizzy. This plays virtually everything.
Cons: A bit simple. I wish you could go frame to frame, although maybe you can and I haven't figured it out yet.
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6 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Version: VLC Media Player 0.8.6
Pros: The best free video player, plays almost every single file format that most will not play or needs a special player, i.e .flv, .acc, .aiff, .flacc, etc. Good for playing videos. Also love how you can take Snapshots of parts of a video.
Cons: The quality is not that good. Also not well with playing music, normally after one to two songs in any file format (mainly .mp3) the song skips and then VLC crashes.
For playing video and music of formats not used by many softwares this is your player.
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Version: VLC Media Player 0.8.6
Pros: This player is great, and is the only player I use most of the time. It is simple, easy to control, and yet is the most powerful player I have ever used. It can handle almost every file type I through at it, even when windows media player, or even power DVD won't work. The best feature is its file recovery, have you ever had a video downloaded that is slightly corrupt and so won't work in windows media player? The chances are that this program will work, as it has a stunning method for recovering files. Also, unlike some users say, it is possible to control the player in full screen, by either right clicking, or by using space for pause etc. I like this because it means no silly things pop up if you just move the mouse, like with WMP, as I use my mouse downstairs in the living room, and so it is often thrown around like a remote control.
Cons: The ONLY problem I have ever found with this program is that it does not support real file. I have downloaded real alternative as I absolutely despise real player. If it did support real files, the only players I would use would be VLC, and Google video player.
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12 out of 13 people found this review helpful
Version: VLC Media Player 0.8.6
Pros: Well, it can pretty much play everything I've thrown at it. Excellent program, perfect for the movie buff.
Cons: The skin is really left to be desired.
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3 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Version: VLC Media Player 0.8.6
Pros: This free and open source player plays almost every single popular audio or video file format out there. With just a single installation. Plus has a nifty set of features and lots of configuration options. Even the hotkey handling absolutely rocks.
Cons: The interface is too plain, and sometimes confusing for people who've used just one player their entire computing lives. Skinning improves the aesthetics but nowhere near its competitors.
- See all 57 user reviews Write review
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