I know that there are a number of people interested in cord cutting. At least in how that relates to cable TV. Netflex and websites like Hulu and even those of most networks provide a possible alternative.
Hulu+ is available for a monthly fee of $7.99. But they have run Hulu as a free service off their website for sometime. Last week I actually stumbled across a Hulu application for the Mac that is in beta and free.
You can set preference to allow the Hulu window to float over all other windows. However, I have discovered that makes TextExpander not work. So I can’t watch it while working on the Infomanager site.
Once past the opening screen, the menu consists of a list on the lower half of the screen that says Now Playing, Popular, Recently Added. TV, Movies, Profiles, Search, Help and Exit. I initially found it confusing since it is on a virtual wheel and only the current item is bright while the rest are darkened. But it is still possible to click on the one you want once you have scrolled to it.
One nice feature is that you can click on the windows to just pause a video. So far with the exception of not being able to use Smile’s TextExpander I am enjoying it. But have discovered that I now wish I had the 27″ iMac.
Minimum requirements to run Hulu Desktop on my PC/Mac:
PC
- Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz
- At least 2.0 GB RAM
- Windows XP or later
- 2 Mbps Internet connection
- Flash 10.1.53.64
Mac
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
- At least 2.0 GB RAM
- Mac OS v10.4 (Tiger) or later
- 2 Mbps Internet connection
- Flash 10.1.53.64
Linux
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
- At least 2.0 GB RAM
- Fedora 9, Ubuntu 8.04 or later
- 2 Mbps Internet connection
- Flash 10.1.53.64
Screen shots of windows, starting with the opening screen:
See for yourself by downloading it at: http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop
