VLC 2.0 hits RC, brings new UI and Blu-ray support for OS X

Matthew DeCarlo

Posts: 5,271   +104

Update: VLC 2.0 final for Windows and Mac OS X is now available for download.

Everyone's favorite open-source media player has reached a new milestone, delivering a bevy of new tweaks and features. The VLC 2.0 release candidate launched for Windows in late January and a Mac-friendly build has followed this week. The jump from v1.1.13 to v2.0.0 represents a drastic overhaul and the changelog contains nearly 17,000 characters -- more ground than we can cover here, naturally.

Unlike previous builds, the OS X version of VLC 2.0 has received plenty of attention. The player's dated skin has been replaced with a more modern-looking interface that merges your playlists, libraries and other such options into one column. Playback controls have been shifted to a bottom bar, while pop-up controls such as the audio equalizer appear in a translucent window so your content remains visible.

vlc blu-ray itunes quicktime media player videolan video player

The update also brings a native full screen mode for OS X Lion along with experimental Blu-ray support. Apple doesn't officially support Blu-ray, so there hasn't been an easy way to play encrypted discs. Users have had to rip and encode videos before watching them. This remains true for DRM-laced commercial discs, but VLC 2.0 offers easy playback for decrypted Blu-ray discs -- limited, but better than nothing.

VideoLAN has also added support for lua-based extensions, which allows the player to fetch movie information and subtitles, post to Twitter and other such options. VLC 2.0 isn't all about OS X, though. Windows users can look forward to a new 64-bit build along with tons of changes under the hood. You'll find a quick rundown of the release notes on our download page along with links for different OSes.

Permalink to story.

 
For me vlc has always been a backup for media player classic; seeing if it is able to play the handful of files media player classic isn't.

I've always liked the simple window interface of vlc, though i quite dislike how it looks in that screenshot. don't think i will be updating vlc until whenever I reformat my pc...2013 probably.

Weekend open forum question: how often do you reformat your pc?
 
i quite dislike how it looks in that screenshot. don't think i will be updating vlc until whenever i reformat my pc...2013 probably.

I installed it and it looks just like the old one, only more polished and a little less chrome.

The picture above is for Mac OS and the panel you see on the side is merely a way to browse for files. It's analogous to the "browse" window that pops up when you go to Media > Open File. Windows does not look like that.
 
The Windows UI is still bare and simple, but in a bad way. Mac's is better and improved on this version as pointed out in the story, however the RC is still too slow and resource intensive compared to the outgoing 1.x version.
 
Julio said:
The Windows UI is still bare and simple, but in a bad way. Mac's is better and improved on this version as pointed out in the story, however the RC is still too slow and resource intensive compared to the outgoing 1.x version.

I disagree. Bare and simple is what VLC should remain. The new Mac UI is cluttered and clicking on the various links My Music, My Videos, My Pictures ... brings up nothing.

Why do I need an "Internet" tab? Who are Free Music Charts, Freebox TV, Icecast Radio, Jamendo, and Channels.com?
 
Stutters badly during video playback on 2.0 RC1. Clean settings.
Reverted to vlc-1.1.11-win32 and works fine again.
This still needs work, hence RC1...

Lian Li PC-V354B ? Antec HC1200 Pro ? Asus P8P67-M Pro ? Intel i7 2600K @4.60GHz ? G.Skill ECO 16GB RAM 8-8-8-24@1600Mhz ? Noctua NH-U9B cooler ? eVGA GTX590 ? 2x Intel SSD 510 Series 250GB - RAID0 ? Logitech G7 ? Dell 3008WFP ? Logitech HD Pro C910 webcam ? Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ? Schiit Lyr ? Schiit Bifrost ? Audeze LCD-2 headphones
 
Julio said:
I totally agree it should remain simple, but the Windows interface is terrible.
well it's exactly the same as the previous version, so I don't see where you're coming from.
 
I've tried VLC many times at different versions but every time I keep going back to the Combined Community Codec Pack which uses MPC-HC. VLC occasionallly plays back a section of a non-corrupted (CRC checked) file as a pixelated mess. Also, it still doesn't support all of .*** subtitles which is why most of the anime community disproves of VLC. Only the uninformed use VLC but then when they come around asking why their anime is a mess, the problem is always that they're using VLC. Mplayer2 is also better than VLC as media player not the streaming.

tl;dr VLC is crap for foreign subtitled media and has the occasional problems with normal videos.
 
you forgot to mention this is their last ppc release and it adds multicore-threading for g5's allowing them to noe play 1080p video easily, it does not however add support for crystalhd hd decorder card for minipci that plugs into g5 towers and imacs and some minis. that would have been huge, so far only xbmc has limited support for the card.
 
I think Daum PotPlayer is a real contender these days, and perhaps the winner.
 
I'll use it some I'm sure. I think the new look for OS X is a big improvement.

But its going to be hard to pull me away from MPC-HC on Windows, and MplayerX on OS X (and Plex on my Mini connected to HDTV).
 
i can't get the freakin volume default value to stick. everytime i fire it up, the volume is always at 0. no matter how i try to set the default value in preference to 100 or more, it still defaults back to 0 the next time i start the app.
 
ok I just realised that this version of VLC can't play videos while minimized, which is really strange and frustrating.
 
For me, I use VideoLAN on every machine, but not just one version, I keep a few older installers on hand, I also install MP 10, not 9 or 11, since 10 looks just right to me (dating back to 2004)
VideoLAN allows audio to sync to video when they are off, for that, it's priceless in my eyes. For Flash video, use SoThink's free player! I tried MediaPlayer Classic, unimpressed
 
I see Mac PPC but no Linux download ? Can that be right ? I still need to go to the official site but if there really isn't what the hell am I still doing using VLC ? Remnants of the Windows days I suppose...
 
I look forward to trying this new interface when it's available for windows. The windows version looks very dated. I use KM Player as my main player but I use VLC as a backup. I don't like pot players interface.
 
Guest said:
For me, I use VideoLAN on every machine, but not just one version, I keep a few older installers on hand, I also install MP 10, not 9 or 11, since 10 looks just right to me (dating back to 2004)
VideoLAN allows audio to sync to video when they are off, for that, it's priceless in my eyes. For Flash video, use SoThink's free player! I tried MediaPlayer Classic, unimpressed

You were probably trying the original MPC. The updated version is called Media Player Classic Home Cinema. I suggest downloading the CCCP bundle at cccp-project.org
 
Back