Netflix "watch instantly" now unlimited on most plans

Good news for Netflix subscribers. What used to be a feature with limitations on how much you could view each month, has now turned into an unlimited movie download service.

Netflix has over 6000 movies available for instant viewing. You’ll still need a PC (no Mac support), you’ll still only be able to browse them with IE, and you can still only view them through Windows Media Player.

But if you are already paying the monthly fee (unlimited "watch instantly" movie plans are $8.99 and up) then this is a great addition. And if you were already being naughty and ripping your DVD’s so you could watch on the plane, then this may be a great way of saving some hassle. Unfortunately it’s been near impossible to find out more about the restrictions on the Netflix DRM, so I’m not 100% sure how long you get to watch a downloaded movie.

But oddly enough, most of the reporting focus on this news was not on Netflix, it was on Apple. One of the most widespread rumors about Macworld (opening tomorrow) is the announcement of iTunes movie rentals. So either Netflix knows something we don’t, or they just wanted to beat them to it.