The BBC has introduced a FLASH (web based streaming) version of its IPTV iPlayer service, which may act as a stop gap measure for Mac and Linux users until the full downloadable application can be introduced next year.

Being based on Adobe FLASH technology also means that the service can be enjoyed by Microsoft Windows XP and Vista users too, although it doesn't have as many features as the downloadable client for XP. In fact, any operating system with a browser able to support the latest FLASH code should be able to display it.

The service itself allows you to view the best of the last seven days of BBC television and radio programs. However, speaking personally, we'd very much like to see the BBC drop its use Kontiki as the P2P client for its downloadable application. That or adjust how the integration works.

P2P is all well and good for such purposes but the fact that Kontiki runs in the background even when you're not using iPlayer is something we never like to see; supposedly it can be disabled from one of the menus.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/