VLC Media Player Pros and Cons
 
Everything in the computer world has its good and bad points.  In this review we’ll take a look at the VLC media player pros and cons. 
 
For those who don’t know yet, VLC is one of the most popular free media players out there.  The brain child of a group of French students in Paris, the VLC media player outperforms even commercial programs in many respects.  Deceptively plain and simple in appearance, VLC is actually a robust and feature-rich piece of software.
 
Starting on the “pros” side of the VLC media player pros and cons, what makes it unique is both a client (end user) program and a server application for streaming video across a network of computers.  The reason for this is that VLC, as a client program, has absorbed the main features of its server partner, VLS.   Streaming means one computer (using the server application) sends bits or “packets” of data to other computer(s), which in turn play the packets with the client program.  This is done “live” in real time.
 
Most people, however, would be quite happy without using the server features.  As a standard media player, VLC gives an outstanding performance.  It can playback almost anything you would care to load on it, and it does so flawlessly.  While some media players may have trouble displaying video, or otherwise show quirky behavior, VLC runs smoothly. 
 
Among the strongest pros of VLC is its cross-platform nature.  Like many open-source projects, it shows no preference for a particular operating system.  VLC has been ported different platforms, including Linux, Mac OS, BSD and Windows. 
 
For those who like to have fun with videos and pictures, VLC lets you distort, reverse, or copy video screen shots as they play.  You can use it as a wallpaper for your desktop, for instance.
 
But now for the other side of the VLC media player pros and cons.  One of its weaknesses is its appearance and skin management.  If you do not know, “skin” is the virtual face of the program.  It’s what determines how the user interface will look and behave.  VLC is a bit too plain in this regard. 
 
Here is a summary of the most frequently cited VLC media player pros and cons. 
 
Pros
 
 Support of a large number of audio, video and streaming formats
 FREE!
 Not memory-intensive
 Simple user interface
 Platform-independent
 Can output videos to iPhone or iPod
 Can stream videos over a network
 Can play broken or incomplete downloads
 
Cons

 Lacks multiple selection feature
 Can’t use escape key to exit full-screen view
 No comprehensive help documentation
 
The “cons” are evidently minor.  Actually, VLC media player has all it takes for practical purposes.  This program is no joke.  When its developers say it can open and play most any media file type, they aren’t joking.  VLC media player does just what it is supposed to do.
 
All computer programs have their good and bad points.  This list of VLC media player pros and cons should help you decide if it is for you or not.  As you can probably tell, there isn’t much to complain about here.  VLC is worth a try, at the very least.

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