VLC gets native support for Snapdragon-powered PCs — but its devs haven’t forgotten your ancient Windows XP rig

by

Good news for anyone with – or waiting for – a Windows laptop powered by a Snapdragon X2 Plus, X2 Elite, or X2 Elite Extreme processor! The widely-used VLC media player now works directly on these Arm-based laptops.

VLC has been updated to version 3.0.22 or 3.0.23. This update includes support for Arm-based devices, a new Dark Mode for Windows and Linux, and several bug fixes.

I really enjoy writing about apps such as VLC. Their latest update not only improves performance on newer processors, but also surprisingly continues to support older systems like Windows XP Service Pack 3 – it’s great to see them cater to legacy software!

If you already knew about these updates, you’re a dedicated VLC user! VideoLAN introduced dark mode and support for Windows on ARM last September, but at the time it was only available in the release candidate version.

The update is now available for everyone to download from the VideoLAN website.

VLC version 3.0.22/3.0.23: Fixes and Highlights

  • VLC 3.0.23 is the twenty-fourth update of “Vetinari”:
  • Improves playback of numerous formats including rendering of certain subtitles
  • Codec updates, notably dav1d, ffmpeg, libvpx
  • Add support for Windows ARM64 (minimum Windows 10 RS5 17763 / 1809)
  • Add Dark Mode user interface option on Windows and Linux
  • Updates of most third party libraries
  • A large number of stability improvements to the demuxers thanks to reports from rub.de and oss-fuzz
  • Allow renaming/moving/deleting of playing file on Windows
  • Fixed multiple security issues, which are detailed here
  • Maintenance supported by a generous sponsorship of Sovereign Tech Fund

The full change log is also available from VideoLAN in glorious Plain Text formatting.

The recent release of Copilot+ PCs was a fresh start for Windows on Arm processors, leading many to believe these Snapdragon-powered computers are all about AI. However, Dell suggests that customers are either unsure what an ‘AI PC’ actually means or aren’t particularly excited about the idea.

PCs powered by Snapdragon processors offer benefits beyond just artificial intelligence. According to Qualcomm’s testing, the Snapdragon X2 Plus chip performed better than both the Intel Core Ultra 7 265U and 256V processors when using the same amount of power. Specifically, it was up to 3.5 times faster in CPU performance compared to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265U, and showed up to 52% faster multi-core performance than the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V.

Qualcomm did share those performance test results, and they’ve generally been open and honest about how their products perform in the past.

I was really impressed with how the first Snapdragon X chips stacked up against the competition from AMD and Intel. But honestly, I think the Snapdragon X2 series is where things are *really* going to take off for Windows on Arm. It feels like that’s when we’ll see a true leap forward.

Daniel Rubino, our Editor-in-Chief, recently attended a preview event in New York City showcasing Qualcomm’s new chips. He believes the Snapdragon X2 Plus has the potential to significantly change Windows laptops by 2026.

Although Microsoft’s Prism technology, which allows apps designed for Intel processors to run on Arm-based PCs, has gotten much better, apps built specifically for Arm chips still perform best. Microsoft reported last September that 90% of time spent on Arm-based Windows computers was using apps designed for those chips. Now, that 90% will also include time spent using VLC to watch videos and other media.

Read More

2026-01-12 16:09