VLC is a well-established media player for Windows that has been around for a very long time, and it's almost always recommended over the default Windows Media Player. Sure, what's included in Windows may be good enough for most people, but that doesn't meant it's great or that it can't be better.

Most of us are pretty content using VLC instead of Windows Media Player, but if Microsoft hopes to compete with VLC, it really needs to add these features VLC has.

3 Support for every file format under the sun

How is AV1 still a problem?

One of the big selling points of a third-party media player like VLC is that they can very often play media files that Windows Media Player can't. This has always been a problem, and while Microsoft has gotten a bit better, there are still some file formats and codecs you can't open with it.

A big one is AV1, a very efficient file format that's becoming increasingly popular thanks to modern GPUs adding the ability to encode it more efficiently. AV1 can deliver much higher quality in smaller file sizes, which is better for everyone, but if you have a video encoded in AV1, it won't play in Windows Media Player. You'll only be able to listen to the audio.

And that can be said for a lot of formats and codec combinations. VLC is still the go-to for a reason. It can even play 3D and 360-degree videos.

2 File converter

It's not just a video player

On top of already boasting excellent support for all kinds of file formats, VLC is even more than a video player. It can also easily convert videos for you, which goes for both local files and videos streamed from the internet. All you need to is select the file or video stream you want to convert, select the target format and codec, and wait for it to be processed.

While you might not really need a video converter if your media player supports all these file formats out of the box, it can be useful if you want to share them with someone who might not have the same operating system and codec support you do.

1 Support for online video

Play videos and streams from the internet

On top of supporting far more file formats than Windows Media Player, VLC also has the benefit of allowing you to stream online video. It doesn't seem to work with YouTube videos, but it does work with live streams, meaning you can watch and even record a YouTube live stream to revisit later with no problem. You even get quality settings for streaming video, and it looks really crisp.

And outside of YouTube, many kinds of videos are supported. I tried streaming a video hosted on XDA, and I was able to play it and even save it from within VLC. You can do this for a lot of other platforms, and maybe even more interesting, you can connect to network devices, like network-connected cameras. This means you can record a video feed using your PC without needing other programs.

What's more, streams and online video can be added to a playlist, so you can set up a playlist with a mix of local and online video files.

Microsoft needs to step up its game

When it comes to versatility, VLC is still the king of media players, and Windows Media Player has a long way to go if it wants to be on the same level. These are just the highlights Microsoft really needs to work on, but there are other cool features in VLC, like the ability to cast audio to a Google Nest or Chromecast device, so you can play local music on your speakers. And you can probably come up with some of your own reasons why VLC is superior to Microsoft's solution.

Hopefully the company can really improve its built-in apps to the point where you don't need VLC, but the great thing about Windows is that even iof that doesn't happen, you'll always have third-party apps as an option.