Boxee Prepares Final Desktop Version Upgrade

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It’s the end of an era about to land with the end of 2011, folks, as Boxee’s newest desktop version will be landing in public beta mode soon. But while a new beginning is about to arrive, it’s also the beginning of the end in some ways. Specifically, the beginning of the end for desktop support for the Boxee system.

Basically, Boxee 1.5 is looking to make its entrance soon, as a full release is set to hit sometime in January, around the same time as Live TV. And while Boxee users will be happy to see that the user interface will get some serious tweaking until it’s on par with that of the Boxee Box, they likely won’t be happy to hear that this is the last version of Boxee to ever be released for Windows, Linux, and Mac desktops. Nor will they be happy to hear that support for premium apps like Netflix will also be unavailable here.

Boxee, at last report, plans to focus on set-top boxes and the like, including the eponymous Boxee Box, as well as a variety of Blu-ray players and televisions. Developing separate software for PCs (and Macs, if you prefer) has been diverting development resources away from the set-top peripherals, something Boxee wants to change to keep up with the growing amount of competition in that market space.

This is undoubtedly something of a blow for the home theater PC crowd, though it’s only something of a blow considering that there will be plenty of alternatives to follow, not to mention likely improvements to the overall Boxee Box design now that Boxee’s no longer splitting its R&D capabilities. Still though, losing an alternative is never anything but a bitter pill to swallow, though hopefully, this one will produce some pleasant results down the line.

So what do you guys think here? Think the home theater market is losing a great alternative? Or do you think that Boxee focusing on the Box and the like will prove more valuable for users in the long run? No matter what stance you take here, the comments section below is the perfect place to fill us in on what you think!