Boxee Finally Drops a Windows Client

If you thought Hulu was the only way to watch TV without paying for TV, you were wrong. Boxee has been around for quite a while, but has only been available for Linux and Mac.

At the recent Boxee event in San Francisco to declare a winner of its App Dev Challenge, they finally announced the release of a Windows client. There are other feature additions as well, but the Windows client will probably be what everyone will be talking about for the next day or so. Just for a little background:

Boxee is a free, open-source software platform that integrates personal media with Internet media along with social networking. boxee’s social networking component allows users to share information about what they’re listening to or watching with other Boxee users or friends on social networks like twitter, facebook, etc.

While Hulu primarily lives inside your browser, Boxee is an actual piece of software that you install and run on your computer. It goes out and collects stuff for you to watch. They even used to carry Hulu content, but Hulu made them take it out. Boxee also allows third-party applications that serve to expand it’s content and featureset, hence the App Dev Challenge.

To get Boxee, just got to their website and signup. Then, you can download the software for Windows, Mac, or Linux. The interface is designed to work well on your TV with a remote control. This would involve cables (DVI/VGA, S-Video, whatever), and I’m not even going to get into the remote control side. Good thing you don’t need all that to enjoy Boxee.

Boxee is a little sluggish on my system, but my computer is old and this is alpha software we’re talking about anyway. Installation was a breeze and I was able to find a few interesting shows pretty easily. There is definitely much more exploration to do.

Other features just added to Boxee include MLB.tv, which TechCrunch points out will mark the first time you will be able to get live content via the software. There are also rumors of other sporting events and possibly live news.

Digg is another new addition. This will allow you to access the wealth of audio and video clips that passes through Digg each day. Who knows, you may actually find something interesting. Allegedly, you’ll be able to Digg items right from Boxee one day.

Tumblr was also announced, giving you access to audio and photos posted on the popular semi-blogging site. This is actually very interesting to me because I sometimes post original songs on Tumblr.

There is also a partnership with Current, which will give you access to their news and other content.

Boxee is a powerful application and definitely worth the download if you, like many others, are tired of getting fleeced by the cable company or just want more convenient access to the shows you like.

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