Boxee adds Windows support, Ubuntu users get 1080p

Popular and sometimes controversial, media center software Boxee was, until recently, only available for OS X and Ubuntu users. Now the majority of the computing world will be able to get its hands on the freeware social media center as the alpha version for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 has been added (build number 0.9.12.6570). This alpha period will last until later this year, when the first working beta is expected to be released.

The company's Avner Ronen said the goal is to update all three platforms at the same time.

Boxee lets users manage their collections of music, movies, and photos, as well as organize and browse the wealth of streaming musical and video content on the Web and makes for a formidable HTPC. In addition to bringing more content providers on board for the latest Boxee update (MLB.TV, Digg, Current), the Ubuntu platform running Nvidia graphics cards with VDPAU hardware acceleration can now play HD videos up to 1080p. Support for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) has also been added, while support for 8.04 (Hardy Heron) has been dropped.