Yesterday Microsoft announced that they are partnering with Netflix to bring Netflix’s streaming content to the Xbox 360 Dashboard.  What was not announced however is the same in Media Center.  The good news is that Microsoft now has the backend to make it work.  The bad news that knowing them Netflix streaming may never be ported to Media Center.  Looks like the Xbox 360 Dashboard is still Media Center biggest enemy.

On the same Netflix partnership, I think people might be getting too worked up about the usefulness.  While Netflix has a great amount of content that you have heard of and might want to watch, it is not going to replace you renting or buying new movies.  Netflix content is really a complement to your Netflix subscription (movies in the mail), and not a pure streaming service.  I feel like a lot of people are expecting this to change the world, and that's clearly not the goal of the partnership or Netflix streaming in general.  This does give a better mix of content directly accessible via the Xbox 360 Dashboard, so if you already get movies this way it will be a very nice digital distribution mix.

Oh, and of course you need to be an Xbox Live Gold member ($60/year) to get access.  If you are a Media Center user something like vmcNetflix might be your best bet.  Bottom line, great news but I don't think this is going to change the world or make as big of a splash as some seem to be expecting.