Microsoft, Linksys, Niveus, D-Link, and HP recently announced the next generation of media extenders for Windows Media Center users. But here's the thing. If you've got a Mac, these things are useless and you'll probably need an AppleTV or similar device to watch downloaded movies and TV shows on your TV screen. And if you've got Windows XP (the non-media center version), you might prefer a different kind of box altogether for your streaming needs.

And that, in a nutshell is why you probably don't watch streaming or downloaded videos on your TV. It's just too complicated. If your computer is next to your PC, you probably need to buy a new video card that will let you run a cable from your PC to TV. And if you're like most people your PC is in a completely different room and you'll need to get a $300+ box which plugs into your TV so that you can stream video over your home network.

But as Techdirt's Tim Lee points out, shelling out the money for additional hadware is only the tip of the iceberg. You also need to find the right hardware for your operating system and software. If you download your movies from iTunes, Amazon, MovieLink, or Vongo, you'll need to make sure you have the right hardware to support your online video store of choice. And if you use multiple services, good luck. Oh yeah, and good luck trying watching Joost, VeohTV, Vuze, or Babelgum using a media extender.

While we don't expect everyone to start using the same video codecs anytime soon, it's interesting to note that Amazon, Apple, and other online music stores are starting to offer DRM-free music. Maybe one day we'll see the same thing happen with online video and as long as your hardware can support a wide selection of codecs, you'll have no problems playing any video on it.

Pretty much every television network offers a way to watch full streaming episodes of popular TV shows these days. But you need to jump through a series of hoops and a dozen websites to find each show you're looking for. While companies like MeeVee, and Veoh have created streamlined interfaces for finding your favorite programs online, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with TV Guide's new Online Video Guide.

TV Guide has been beta testing its new video guide for months, and the video directory goes live today. The front page features a list of popular shows and a column showing programs you may have missed last night. You can also search or browse for shows. If you were busy watching Prison Break and missed Chuck, TV Guide can help. Of course, so can NBC.com, but I really like the idea of having one place to go, not one for each network.

And unlike VeohTV, TV Guide's directory takes you directly to network websites to watch the video. In other words, you're exposed to every banner ad the network wants you to see and there's absolutely no reason for the networks to get upset and sue anyone.

[via lost remote]

Microsoft is showing off its new Internet TV platform at Digital Life, a whole one day before the service is rolled out to every Windows Vista machine.

Here's the good news: It looks pretty cool and dramatically increases the amount of internet video you can access from within the Windows Vista Media Center interface. Here's the bad news: The content is only kind of interesting.

While we were hoping to see Microsoft take on Joost and VeohTV here by offering full length streaming episodes of TV, so far the only content you can access is the same material available via MSN Video. That means the only TV series you can watch is Arrested Development and while there's a movies section, it currently includes nothing but trailers.

There are full length music concerts, and links to content from various TV networks. But again, most of what you get are clips, not full length episodes.

Internet TV launches tomorrow as a public beta, so there's a chance that Microsoft will sign up new partners before the official launch. But when your public beta is not just available to all users, but actually pushed out to their machines, the line between beta and full release is kind of blurry.

No one has filed a lawsuit against VeohTV yet, but it could just be a matter of time. The service is something of a cross between YouTube and Joost, giving you the ability to surf for online videos without using a web browser.

Many of those videos don't come from Veoh, but from sources like NBC, CBS, and YouTube. That includes full length streaming episodes of shows like 24, Heroes, and 30 Rock. And Veoh's made the intriguing (and possibly ill-advised) decision not to ask for permission to distribute those videos.

Now that I've had a chance to check out full-screen online video programs Joost, VeohTV, and Babelgum I'd been thinking about writing up a comparison. Mashable beat me to it, and threw in Democracy to boot.

All four programs aim to make the experience of watching online video easier. Web browsers were really designed for viewing text and images, not video. A side benefit is that most of these programs are also welcome additions to an HTPC.

In a nutshell, here's what Mashable found:

Now that VeohTV beta's been out for a few days, I've had a chance to take it for a spin (thanks to our friends at NewTeeVee).

And while I was a bit skeptical at first that there would be much value in watching web video in a standalone, full screen application, there are a few things that VeohTV does very very right.

First off, it feature something I've been waiting for: a single interface where you can get watch full length streaming episodes of network television programs. The videos are coming straight from the network sites, with commercials intact, so hopefully VeohTV won't get in trouble for letting you watch the TV shows without actually visiting the network web site.

ABC is nowhere to be seen, but CBS, NBC, Fox, and the CW are all represented, (and PBS is underrepresented with just a little Nova content).

What Joost is doing for television over the internet, Veoh wants to do for internet video... over the internet. Let me rephrase that. You know how Joost takes internet video out of the web browser and puts it into a standalone full-screen application with easy to navigate controls? Yeah, that's what Veoh wants to do.

But while Joost's strategy has been to partner with companies like Paramount, CBS, and Viacom to provide content, VeohTV, which launches in beta this week, lets you see pretty much any video on the web in a standalone full screen application.