AndroidX is a major refactor of the Android Support Library that provides backwards compatibility since AndroidX has more logical artifact names and finer-grained libraries. It addresses issues with the legacy Support Library like inconsistent versioning that could cause crashes. AndroidX features like RecyclerView selection and Slices make app development easier, and Android KTX extensions allow writing more concise Kotlin code. The migration to AndroidX helps modernize third-party libraries and provides a better foundation for future Android features.