This actually ok of Apple, to play MPEG2 in windows you need a third party program like winDVD (which costs about $50). So it is no different with Macs. There are free MPEG2 players in windows, but they are not much better than VLC.
The only problem I have is that it says that the MPEG2 addon does not play all mpeg2 video. I would like to try it first to see if it plays my MPEG2 video files I recorded off the TV with my PC. VLC does not play them very well.