Netflix opens Watch Now for Mac

Netflix has officially announced “Watch it Now” for the Mac is here! Thanks to the MS Silverlight-based streaming movie player for Apple, you can now stream movies on your Mac from any internet connection.

So far eight movies from Netflix’s “top 100,” and a lot of old stuff is available. Netflix cautions that “not all movies are available to watch with Silverlight” and that “you may notice errors or lower than normal quality when watching certain titles.

If your looking to hook your computer to your TV keep in mind that fullscreen mode doesn’t work on a second display, and silverlight only works with Intel Macs. The video quality can range from decent to poor. Its surly not as good as the PC version yet.

I canceled my Netflix in the summer when there seemed to be nothing I was interested in on DVD. I have recently signed up again to give the streaming a try. My opinion is that its great when you just want to watch a movie on your computer and don’t expect an amazing picture. If your looking for On-Demand quality, this setup is not for you, and needs improvement. Its a great start and worth $9 a month if you use it.

Netflix on your Mac

Update: It appears most sites have been premature to post this news as NetFlix has in fact not opened this to everyone yet. It is fact that it will be open to Mac users by the end of the year. If you really want it I suggest calling NetFlix and asking for the service early, as some users have been given early access.

Its been years,  Apple users want DRM streaming services like Netflix “watch it now”, on their Macs without running Windows or any Virtual Machines.Well good news because Netflix is now streaming to Intel Based Macs with the Silverlight 2.0 Safari and Firefox plugin from Microsoft. 

With this move forward I would hope to see Netflix adding more content and HD options. In my opinion Netflix “watch it now” is a nice addition to receiving movies in the mail, but its no competition on its own, to Amazons online rentals and Unbox for TiVo. However with Netflix making the effort to expand to other platforms besides the PC market, I would expect to see them expand the service in the future.