Netflix Launches Online Streaming Support For Apple Mac And Linux PC

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Dec 4, 2008

Netflix has announced that its streaming video service is now available for the Apple Mac. The service is still in beta and the video library is still limited. The service is provided through Boxee which adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies.

Netflix Inc on Thursday announced support for the Apple Mac and Linux PC. The service is through Boxee which adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies.

Streaming is not yet available for the Apple TV version of Boxee. Netflix currently uses Microsoft Corp's Silverlight platform to deliver its streaming content which has higher hardware requirements than Apple TV.

Along with Netflix support, Boxee now links up with MTV to pop up music videos for any songs in your library that it can match. There's also supported encoding for YouTube videos in h.264, and new player interfaces for Hulu, CNN, Picasa, YouTube, and Flickr. It also features an updated UI that offers slightly more streamlined playback controls.

Last month, Netflix finally started to roll out its Watch Instantly service to Mac users. You needed to opt-in to use the feature, but it was available for those who wanted to access it. However, Watch Instantly is now available for Mac users without having to opt-in through Boxee.