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That’s right. We’ve waited long enough for Netflix to roll out the Watch Instantly happiness for Macs. It seems like everything else under the sun got support first, including PCs, set top boxes, and even the XBOX 360, which can barely support its own hardware. What’s the catch? Oh you, you just knew there was something, didn’t you?

There’s always something.

That something isn’t quite that bad, but it is ironic. It seems that Microsoft’s Silverlight is the vehicle that Netflix has chosen to deliver its streaming video to Intel Macs. You read right, Intel Macs. So to anyone still sporting a non-Intel processor, I sincerely hope you don’t buy into the whole Netflix thing in the first place. Alternatively, this could be a great reason for you to upgrade to one of the new MacBooks!

The reason behind Silverlight is its DRMing skills. I have a hard time with any decision that’s made with DRM in mind, though it’s not just Intel Macs that benefit from this choice. Now, Watch Instantly works anywhere Silverlight does, which includes Firefox. So, if you find yourself stuck trying to use a PC, you won’t have to fully submit to Internet Explorer to stream some Netflix.

Personally, I would have rather seen Netflix find a solution that could work anywhere Flash works. That way, Netflix could work on not only the Mac, but also the PS3, and who knows, maybe even the iPhone if Adobe has their way. But, I suppose I should take the victories as they happen. Thanks Netflix…it’s about time.

Here’s the full PR:

NETFLIX BEGINS ROLL-OUT OF 2ND GENERATION

MEDIA PLAYER FOR INSTANT STREAMING

ON WINDOWS PCs AND INTEL MACS

Based on Microsoft Silverlight, New Player Features Enhanced Dynamic Streaming, First-Time Use for Macs and

Breakthrough Navigation for Fast-Forward and Rewind

LOS GATOS, Calif., October 27, 2008 – Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world’s largest online movie rental service, today announced it has begun the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. The deployment, which will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers, is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.

Silverlight is designed for delivery of cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences inside a Web browser. It is expected that Netflix members who watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight, due to the quality built directly into the player. Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding. The new Netflix player takes advantage of Play Ready DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs. That had not been possible with previous generation technologies.

“Silverlight with Play Ready offers a powerful and secure toolkit for delivery of dynamic streaming, which offers faster start-up, and higher quality video, adapted in real time to users’ connection speeds,” said Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt. “Members who enjoy watching movies and TV episodes from the growing library of choices that can be instantly streamed at Netflix will be thrilled with this next generation improvement of access and quality, on a broader range of platforms, including Intel Macs and Firefox.”

Read [Engadget]