VLC beta for Windows 8 now available for download via Windows Store

The popular video player application, VLC, has finally arrived on Windows 8. The VideoLAN team behind the application on Wednesday launched a beta version of the app for Windows 8 users. It's now available to download from the Windows Store.

"After running a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the work needed to develop a version of their popular video player called VLC for Windows 8" said VideoLAN team on Windows Experience Blog.

The beta application of VLC released has been designed specifically for the Modern UI. It's the same VLC that we know, in a fresh new design. The Modern UI version of the application is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8 powered desktops, laptops and tablets only. The application doesn't support Windows RT as of now, but the application is reportedly under works.

The application will support almost all popular audio and video playback formats in the beta version same as the desktop version of VLC for Windows with some additional formats including Ogg, FLAC and MKV. Users also get dedicated "panels" in the application to see all the videos and songs on their devices.

Since the app is in beta mode, the VideoLAN team has noted that there might be a few bugs and kinks to be worked out and there are quite a few, such as no hardware acceleration support - full list can be found on the developers page. Users can give it a try and report issues.

Last month, the VideoLAN team had updated the VLC app for iOS to version 2.2.0 with a revamped user interface matching the iOS 7 style.

Besides the fresh new iOS 7 look, the VLC for iOS update additionally supports Dropbox and HTTP live streaming along with a support for downloads from Google Drive.

The latest VLC for iOS player UI also comes with additional features, and includes new gestures, such as two-finger tap for video pause, and swipes for adjusting brightness, playback and volume.