A few weeks ago, I noted NetFlix's drop in price which they're making good on and pined for a NetFlix HTML front-end for Media Center so I could kick back with the remote and as I see an ad for a new movie coming out on DVD, I could hop over to Netflix and add it to my queue.  I mentioned it shouldn't be too hard- just a little DHTML.  Then a few folks tipped me off to a cool freeware HTML add-in that does just this by Ryan Hurst. Using NetFlix's RSS feeds and the Web, Ryan has written a simple HTML add-in for Media Center that enables 10' browsing of your NetFlix account movie queue, Suggestions, New Releases, Top 100, Top 25 by Genre, details and more.

First be sure to read NetFlix's terms re: personalized RSS feeds. You can download Ryan's NetFlix HTML Front-End (or Weather link, or Recipe Finder and others) from here.

This is what I'm talking about: the power of the Windows platform for developing cool apps for Media Center.  Other PVRs are gated- they generally decide the experience you get. I love Netflix and if this is the direction that Media Center enthusiasts are going, there are going to be a lot of cool new experiences ahead.

Keep sending me your cool Media Center apps and post them to community sites like www.thegreenbutton.com