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Netflix now official for Mac, on Boxee as well

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Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” feature is starting to pop up on just about everything.

It is now officially available for Mac (but you will need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plugin if you haven’t already), and it has been added to the media center craze of the moment “Boxee” as well.

AppleTV users are most excited for “Boxee” because you can hack your AppleTV and install it on the device. This would now give you the Netflix “Watch Instantly” feature on your AppleTV for the first time.

What’s interesting about all the excitement about this is that people never seem to mention (or rarely seem to mention, rather) that the selection of movies on this service is pretty terrible. There are quite a few TV shows that you can watch with it, however — and perhaps that’s enough for people, but I think Netflix needs to concentrate on improving the quality of their stream, and the content that they have – before this begins to live up to the hype that currently surrounds it.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Apparently, even though Netflix is a part of the software, the hardware for the AppleTV just isn’t fast enough to run it. Will they figure out a way around it? I don’t know – perhaps. Right now, though, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to run it on your AppleTV.

Also, if you’re having trouble finding Netflix in Boxee it’s located under the Internet tab.

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Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

13 thoughts on “Netflix now official for Mac, on Boxee as well

  1. I think calling the movie selection “pretty terrible” is a stretch. I currently have over 150 movies in my Watch Instantly queue and find the selection to be quite decent. Granted they do not have the entire catalog that is available on DVD but 150+ movies is more than enough to last me quite some time, and I haven’t even browsed through the entire Watch Instantly selection.

    -Vince

  2. I just tried to watch a few TV shows just to check it out. The quality is so bad that it is unwatchable on my 30″

  3. @Vincent

    They may have 150+ movies in the list…but I know for a fact that at least ONE of those movies is one that was made in my home town for about $200. I’m in it.

    There’s a big difference between that movie, and “Hancock”.

    Not that the little indy is bad – I think it’s quite good for the money they had…I’m just saying, it’s a different animal.

  4. @Nick

    Actually Nick, the AppleTV version of boxee (which is the Mac version of boxee) has Netflix access just fine (under the Internet tab) so you’re inaccurate.

    I just checked it myself. It’s there.

  5. Hmm…I don’t have Netflix on my Boxee on AppleTV. But I’m updating to be sure I have the latest alpha version, so we shall see.

  6. Michael,

    I didn’t say that Netflix has 150+ movies available via Watch Instantly, I said that I have more than 150+ movies I found worthy of adding to my Watch Instantly queue. They have significantly more than 150 movies available via Watch Instantly. In my opinion the fact that I found 150+ movies that I deemed worth watching makes the Netflix Watch Instantly service significantly better than “pretty terrible”.

    -Vince

  7. @Jake

    Look under VIDEO> INTERNET – you’ll see a big red box that says “NETFLIX” if you don’t, you need to update the software.

  8. Michael,

    How did you get Netflix in Boxee on AppleTV? From the blog regarding the addition of Netflix:

    the bad news: we could not make it run on Apple TV ☹ . we tried real hard. vulkanr was almost able to tame it, but he was bucked by the Apple TV’s 1Gz processor. it screamed back at him in thick Scots brogue, “I can’t do it captain, I just don’t have the power!” we’re still working on it, but don’t have a solution, yet.. also there is no Netflix for Ubuntu, yet (i believe Netflix mentioned they will support Linux later in 2009).

    If you did manage to get it working on AppleTV I’d love to know how.

    -Vince

  9. @Vince–ditto!

    @Michael–

    I’ve updated to the latest boxee on both my mac and my apple TV, and it is definitely not there. I would notice.

  10. @Vince

    You’re entitled to your opinion about Netflix’s feature. I’m glad you like it. I still think the selection is pretty terrible.

    I haven’t installed Boxee on my AppleTV – I don’t want to hack it. I’ve been looking at the Mac version (which is the same version that you install on the AppleTV). If Netflix can’t run on the AppleTV hardware that’s another issue – and I’ll update the article to reflect it.

    @Jake

    I don’t know what you tell you, man. It’s CLEARLY there. I’ve told you how to get to it – I see it, thousands of others see it to. If you don’t see you either don’t have the most updated version, or there is something wrong with your machine. It’s there. There’s nothing else I can tell you.

  11. @Michael

    It definitely does not appear on the Apple TV. It did show up today on my Mac, but not on the Apple TV. Maybe you should try this Boxee hack…it’s hardly a hack and it really opens up the Apple TV’s potential.

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