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Netflix Streaming (Almost) Available for Intel Macs

8:27 pm, October 26th, 2008, Pete Mortensen

netflix_mac.jpg

Image Credit: Engadget

Few things rankle a Mac user more than seeing new and interesting products and services rolled out that only work on PC. In my household, Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” is at the top of this maddening list. Basically, anyone with a Netflix account and sufficiently fast PC can watch any of 12,000 movies direct from Netflix servers at no extra charge. It hasn’t come to Macs because the service relies on PC-only DRM. And this drives my wife nuts. As she sees it, she’s already paying Netflix for service, and since that subscription now includes streaming she can’t use, she’s getting charged for a phantom service.

I can’t say I disagree.

At any rate, Netflix today proclaimed that this sad state of affairs won’t continue for long. Starting tomorrow, a limited number of Mac subscribers will be able to use Watch Instantly via a new version of the software rooted in Microsoft’s Silverlight technology (it’s a lot like Flash). Since Silverlight bakes in the PC DRM, it runs fine on a Mac and takes no additional tweaking to function.

Unfortunately, the new platform will be rolled out slowly, with Netflix only promising support for all Intel Mac users by the end of the year. So it might be awhile before Netflix stops getting the stinkeye from my apartment.

Anyone got access yet? How’s it run?

Posted by Pete Mortensen in Apple, Software | Comment on this article

About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is the communications lead for growth strategy firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

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4 comments

    If the experience is anything like on the PC, we’re in for a real treat. ;)

    http://dfbills.com/display/643

    dfbills, on October 27th, 2008 at 5:00 am

    pity they didn’t raise existing members rates when they added the feature. then every mac user that can’t use it could sue. that would have speed things up a lot. i mean the whole thing is stupid. hulu.com and a ton of network sites have been streaming to macs for ages. and it is streaming. it’s not like those itunes rental downloads where you have the file on your computer and with a lot of skill and time and luck could hack it to turn off the timer and have the file to keep.

    Lucas, on October 27th, 2008 at 7:22 am

    I canceled my Netflix service last year based on lack of support of Watch Instantly for the Mac. I can’t say that I miss Netflix either, as I get my entertainment from alternative sources.

    jmac, on October 27th, 2008 at 7:42 am

    Glad to hear Netflix is finally going to fix this. I was infuriated the first time I tried to use Watch Instantly.

    Kathy M., on October 28th, 2008 at 4:59 pm