Hulu comes to the desktop

I’ll be honest—I haven’t really been a fan of Hulu until now. I was one of the original beta testers before the site opened, and I could just never get into it. Frankly, watching a TV show in a little window inside a web browser had a few problems:

• The video screen was too small, and
• Being in a web browser had all sorts of distractions, such as, umm, the Internet.

I used (and still use) videos purchased through iTunes quite frequently. In fact, I own an Apple TV and we use it all the time; since we’ve gotten it, we’ve nearly given up on DVDs. The quality is great; it works on the TV; and, even when viewing it on my computer, the full-screen view feels like I’m watching TV.

Yesterday, however, Hulu released Hulu Desktop, a “browser-free” tool to view video content from the Hulu website. And, I have to say, this changes everything for me. Since it’s now a standalone app, there are no more distractions from the web browser. It can run in full-screen mode, giving it a feel that’s much closer to real TV. And, it works with my Apple remote control, which means that I don’t have to be moving a mouse around to make everything work.

Is it perfect? Well, not quite. The video quality is still limited to that which is available over the web (in other words, mediocre). Apple TV, for example, allows me to purchase and view HD content in, well, HD. And it’s stunning. On the other hand, Hulu gives me instant access to an enormous library of TV shows and movies, and all for free (ok, I have to watch a few advertisements, but it’s still a better experience than television). It’s almost enough to make me lose the DVR—almost; I can lose the DVR once Hulu supports high-def video.

Hulu Desktop is available for both the Mac and Windows PCs.