VLC 1.1 is here: hardware acceleration, WebM, extensions

It wasn't that long ago that VLC finally hit version 1.0. Since then, progress has been steady -- and today, version 1.1 is ready for download just two months after first going beta.

So what's new in VLC 1.1? First and foremost, hardware acceleration has arrived for VLC users who run Windows Vista and Windows 7 or Linux. MKV HD support has been improved, and VLC 1.1 can now play VP-8 and MPEG-4 lossless videos. VLC 1.1 also sports a buffed-up Web plug-in which supports the WebM container and offers generally improved video streaming.

VLC 1.1's code has been optimized as well, yielding big performance gains (up to 40%, according to the official site). "Tens of thousands of lines of code [were] removed," states the VLC 1.1 news page.

Apart from improving VLC's ability to handle various media types, the biggest addition might just be the new add-ons and script framework. Yes, VLC is now extensible -- so expect to start seeing some awesome extensions in the coming days and weeks as developers begin tinkering.

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