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VLC 0.8.6 Released

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the plays-almost-anything dept.

h2g2bob writes "VideoLAN yesterday released a new version of VLC media player. A shout out goes to ffmpeg for many of the codec improvements." From the blurb: "Building on feedback from the 29 million downloads of VLC media player 0.8.5, we bring you version 0.8.6 with many bugfixes, as well as a couple of new features we think you will truly enjoy. Most prominent are probably Windows Media Video 9 and Flash Video. Other important changes are improved H.264 decoding, better Windows Unicode support, a Fullscreen controller, and Apple Remote support for Mac OS X."

18 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm....WMV9 on OS X? by xjerky · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I realize Flip4Mac exists for this, but does the new VLC implement Windows WMV9 DLLs for the Intel OS X version?

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    1. Re:Hmmm....WMV9 on OS X? by stuuf · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think it uses the new WMV9 decoder added to ffmpeg for Summer of Code, so it doesn't need windows DLLs or any other platform-specific or legally shady methods.

      --

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  2. Why is this under Linux? by drcagn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This program is cross-platform and this build has Windows- and OSX-specific features. Why is this under Linux? Just because it's open source?

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    1. Re:Why is this under Linux? by Chandon+Seldon · · Score: 1, Interesting

      and is possibly the best media player for Linux.

      Lots of things are possible. That's one that's possible and not true.

      VLC Player is more likely to be the best media player under Windows, where stuff like MPlayer isn't native.

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  3. VLC is teh woohoo! by DaveM753 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    > "a Fullscreen controller"

    Woohoo! I've been a tad frustrated with the lack of control while in fullscreen. I suppose I could memorize all of the keyboard shortcuts, but I use several different viewers between the Mac, Linux and Windoze...it just gets too confusing. I can't wait to try this out!

    1. Re:VLC is teh woohoo! by Miseph · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think the key phrase was user-interface. Most free software does need a lot of fixing up in the UI department, and most commercial software needs a lot of improvement in the functionality department.

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  4. Some help with versioning? by dave562 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    VLC media player 0.8.5, we bring you version 0.8.6 with many bugfixes, as well as a couple of new features we think you will truly enjoy.

    For bug fixes I could see a 0.0.1 increase but don't new additions and features generally come with a 0.1.0 increment at least? Maybe the devs are too scared of developing a true 1.0 version? =)

  5. ffmpeg's WMV9 implementation by wesley96 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since it's using ffmpeg to decode WMV9 instead of using Windows DLLs, both PPC and Intel Macs enjoy native decoding of the codec in question. No wrapper, no drag.

    Incidentally, it looks like the new version is finally available in Universal Binary as well as Intel- and PPC-specific builds. And it seems to load subtitle texts automatically from the get-go without mingling with the preferences settings (yes, I confirmed this by trashing the existing preferences file). I say job well done for the VLC developers.

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  6. torrent? by metroplex · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is there an official torrent of the releases hosted somewhere reachable?

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  7. Re:What fullscreen controller? by flimnap · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Installed 0.8.6 and when I go to fullscreen, I can't find any new full screen control.

    Gack, good! One of the best things about VLC is that there is no annoying "control" eating screen space when you go fullscreen. The keyboard shortcuts remain fully functional, so use those.

    I've seen way too many public presentations that begin with the Windows Media Player controls present, then sliding away, not to appreciate the value of VLC.

  8. Re:h264 decoding on vlc player kicks ass! by vivek7006 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Personally, playing h264 stuff in VLC doesn't work all that great for me... I use Media Player Classic with CoreAVC, and it uses far, far less cpu.

    I have also read good reviews about coreAVC on doom9 forums, but VLC player is free and open-source as opposed to coreAVC which is closed.

  9. Re:How is this news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It wouldn't be artificially inflating the number. If there are new features, it shouldn't be a minor version number increase. This is sloppy release engineering, plain and simple.

  10. Re:How is this news? by Goaway · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They are artificially deflating the version number, if anything. Why do so many people think you have to be thirfty with version numbers?

  11. Re:How is this news? by jasmak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You may find it surprising, but when I saw the title of the article I literally almost fell out of my chair I was so excited. It could have been because I was sitting all the way back in my 135 degree angle but out of the 10ish media players I use, VLC is by far the simplest of most comprehensive one I have ever used and because of how long it has been since it was last updated and because of how many new features makes this big news. Also, consider the fact that I, along with many others who use it a lot, probably would not have realized that it was updated because the regular news outlets don't cover geek news... that is what /. is here for. Also, unlike these other services you are mentioning, VLC chooses not to spam you every time you open it with the option to upgrade which I think also deserves recognition.

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  12. Re:Version Number Deflation... by MMC+Monster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think that a lot of open source projects avoid going to 1.0 because they lose the whole "it's a beta, it's supposed to have problems" crutch. The fact of the matter is, people in general understand that all applications, regardless of version number, have flaws.

    When you call it 1.0, there is no going back. It's kind of scary for some projects. Look at the difference in press in a project like firefox. When it hit 1.0 it started getting flack for a poor upgrade mechanism and such, while before that no one cared much if it only came in .zip files.

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  13. Sooooo pretty. by supabeast! · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm just stopping by to point out that the new FFMPEG codecs included with VLC are dreamy. Fullscreen video looks twice as good as it used to. And having Apple remote support in fullscreen mode is fab. Truly an excellent release.

  14. Plays DVDs & CDs from ISO images by dickeya · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That feature alone makes it my default media player. VLC rules.

  15. Question: by crhylove · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can someone point me to a way to view what other people are watching in VLC? It's my job.

    Dwight Shrute.

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