Netflix Watch Instantly coming to Windows 7 Media Center

In what is sure to be just the start of many announcements surrounding Windows 7 in the next few months leading up to the general release, Microsoft demoed Netflix on Windows7 Media Center at the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting. No hard release date yet or big surprises here as Vista owners got this access some time ago and Extenders still don't support Silverlight. The good news though is that the app will be full touch screen capable, so for those with the right hardware you'll have the same great improvements you have in the rest Windows 7. Media Center fans might also be happy to hear that more features were promissed in regards to "TV on the PC." (Fast forward to 1 hour and 2 minutes in the video via the read link to see the demo)

[Via AppScout]

[jagowar Posted Jul 31st 2009 10:42AM]

w/o extender support this is useless to me....

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 10:49AM]

That feature alone will get me to buy a copy of Win7. That is if I can get driver support with my Mac Pro using Boot Camp.

[thewarm Posted Jul 31st 2009 10:59AM]

When I click on the read link.. I get loading shareholder.com... then Firefox re-sizes and crashes!

[Jonthomasdesigns Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:05AM]

Fast forward to 1 hours 2 minutes ..... Holy Crap that a long time in

[KingDeb8r Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:21AM]

A nice idea, but still no Love for people in the UK!
No netflix this side of the pond! :-(

What will microsoft do for us? BBC iPlayer built in? Sky Player Built in!
Wake me when there is some good news for us Brits!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:28AM]

i have a htpc running win 7 rc on it at the moment hooked to a 37" lcd i've tried playing netflix from there website and using there desktop program and it looks like crap same as hulu. picture is fairly clear but all the motion stutters really bad, any ideas on why? it's absolutely unwatchable. internet is 8mbps cable, thanks

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:41AM]

Specs of your HTPC might help. :)

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 3:42PM]

intel e8500
radeon hd 4650
2x1.5t seagate hd's stripe raided
gigabyte ep45 motherboard
4 gig ram
2xhauppauge ??? 150 tuner cards (sd only, 1 hooked to cable box)
sb audigy2 zs gamer
think that's all the important stuff anyhow, thanks

[ppw Posted Jul 31st 2009 6:46PM]

I have both HTPC and ROKU. They are using different streams. The PC stream is significantly inferior to the ROKU stream even with the new version of Silverlight. I've given up watching Netflix on my HTPC. HD streaming via ROKU is OK but so bad via HTPC on a 120 inch screen. Small screens may be fine.

I have a feeling that this is intentional. Providers never want PC content to be watched on TV. Not sure which streams the other hardware (Xbox360, Samsung BR, LG BR, etc) is using.

[jon Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:38PM]

@ppw

Yeah, the PC stream is about 80-90% DVD quality at best, so I'm sure it looks god awful on that size screen. Maybe if we keep pestering them for an HD PC stream.


@Wrecked

Do you have the latest drivers for your vid card, how about the latest silverlight update? What resolution is your PC sending to your tv?

I can play netflix and hulu full screen on an external display at 1280x1024(I think) on a vaio notebook(2Ghz, 3MB ram, and GMA3100) with no stutters or dropped frames.

Maybe run a full virus scan, How is your CPU utilization during playback?

I'm surprised that you're not getting decent playback with those specs.

[JonathanRN Posted Jul 31st 2009 11:33AM]

I REAAAALLY want extender support!! But that was pretty obvious that they have some good partnerships brewing!! I'm excited!

[waymon Posted Jul 31st 2009 12:27PM]

I would love for this to work on my xbox360...since I don't have xbox live I can't watch netflicks.

I hope M$ adds this to the 360 and/or all extenders.

[orionzdrm Posted Jul 31st 2009 1:48PM]

DH try PlayOn media server. It works great with netflix and extenders and you dont need live. I have live and still prefer to use playon since it has hulu as well and HGTV, Adultswim ext....

[EludiumQ36 Posted Jul 31st 2009 12:32PM]

BTW, that's an HP Touchsmart pictured, can't tell if it's the 22-in or 25-in model though, but they're great, I've had the 19-in version since '07.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 12:37PM]

The problems from before still exist. It doesn't work on extenders, and it doesn't support HD. Its a shame that these problems existed even before on Vista, because all the complaints about that overwhelmed the fact that it actually works very well, and integrates the Media Center's and Netflix's style, aesthetics, and features (except HD) into the 1- foot interface of Media Center that we all know and love. If they can get the extender and (and more importantly for me) HD working right, I think so many of you are going to forget the (very much warranted) complaints you have now.

[Raptor Posted Jul 31st 2009 12:48PM]

it would be nice if the play, pause worked on the remote too!

IT really annoys me to have to use the mouse when the remote works for everything else.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 2:21PM]

Yeah, but will the screen saver turn on after being idle for x minutes or did the finally fix that silverlight limitation.

[PcMadness Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:07PM]

Can anyone post what they say about TV on the PC? Stupid video won't play. :(

[Roberini Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:18PM]

MS needs to make Media Center capable of playing more codecs. Not playing mp4 is silly these days. Also, it has to make sure that the features don't stop at the computer level. Being able to have those features on extenders is the desire result. Also, maybe have some sort of non-recording version for Home Server would be a great addition.

I love my WHS, but I can't justify having a pc dedicated to running Media Center when it has so many limitations that could be easily fixed. Merge them together, and it'd be an amazing OS/Application.

[andysexton Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:33PM]

Have you tried 7MC? Codec support is improved. My 7 box has no additional codecs installed. The main thing many still add is mkv support, but h.264 works. And it even transcodes for extenders.

[Roberini Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:42PM]

AndyS:
No, I haven't tried Windows 7. I do have Vista Ultimate. I'm very excited about Windows 7, and did download it from TechNet. But, with the official release coming out in a matter of weeks, I've decided to wait for it. The last Service Pack they released for WHS was an excellent addition. I no longer need to run Tversity because of it. But, Media Center, at least for Vista, needs some updates. I'm not sure what, if any, updates for it MS will come out with.

Again, MS should bring some sort of Media Center on WHS, with the option to add DVR feature for those who may want it. I like the GUI of Media Center and some of its exclusive content. Bring that to WHS and they'd make a lot of people happy.

[SH Posted Aug 2nd 2009 1:06PM]

I play MP4s on my Win7 RC1 extender(s) just fine. I can watch MKV also. I use either the built in Win7 Media Center or PS3 Media Server (works a treat with the xbox). I agree though, I was very disgruntled until I could do these, which was very recent.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 5:31PM]

This doesnt seem like big news. Win7 was already starting to receive praise from members on TGB when the built in NetFlix addon was made available. We all knew that Vista was lurking in the shadow of Win7 so this was inevitable. However, I am more disappointed that there werent greater improvements in the software. At the very least they need the inclusion of streaming HD content. To be honest this addon isnt even used in my house despite our NetFlix subscription. This is mainly due to the lack of streaming HD...plus we get the loading circle and no streaming video unless I close MC and restart it half the time. Most blu-ray players today have a much better NetFlix option with greater functionality.

If you are going to play Microsoft you need to step to the plate.

[jbn75 Posted Jul 31st 2009 10:50PM]

I've given up on extenders... but I've been waiting for the Win7 support for this!

[Starkenator Posted Aug 1st 2009 12:46AM]

It would be awesome if they announced at Cedia that the 360 will receive its rumored Silverlight functionality (thus allowing Netflix on 360 extenders) and that version 3 extenders will also be available at Windows 7 launch that support Silverlight. Dare to dream...

[SH Posted Aug 2nd 2009 1:12PM]

Regarding PlayOn Media Server mentioned earlier in this thread, and all add-on media servers that charge money for that matter, how do these services expect to survive when people will have ever-expanding possibilities with Win7 Media Center?

I googled this product because the Hulu part sounds interesting but at $40 USD why should I? You can bet your @ss there will be something that integrates into WMC sooner or later that is free.

[SH Posted Aug 2nd 2009 1:15PM]

Also, the reason I entered this thread before I got sidetracked, what's the deal with the excitement over touchscreens? FFS who wants fingerprints all over their beautiful TV?

Not to mention the sanitation aspect.

[SanFranSoxFan04 Posted Aug 3rd 2009 2:54PM]

To those using the Media Center client complaining about picture quality, not sure if it's the same in Win7 as it is in Vista Media Center but the Netflix plugin would incorrectly set the video stream to 500kbps although I have a much faster connection. You could manually set this to 1500kbps by hitting CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-S during playback to bring up the settings menu. This provided huge improvements in PQ for me and others.

You may need to have Media Center in windowed mode for CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-S to work, and it may take a few tries.

[felixmrivera Posted Aug 4th 2009 1:38PM]

Thanks for that.

[virxes Posted Aug 5th 2009 11:30PM]

Excellent tip Casey! I'm going home to try it right now...

[adamd Posted Aug 7th 2009 1:53PM]

Ive got RTM now... so any idea when it will come on over? I assume since its running in vista it should be easy enough to port... right?