Joost, in the most basic sense, is TV on your PC. Its a program that lets you browse through a list of television channels, select which show you want to watch, and begin watching that show immediately. The best part about Joost is its free!Joost has quite a few features that make it easy and fun to use. It has a clean interface, operates full-screen and in windowed mode, downloads and plays content seamlessly, and it has a growing list of shows to choose from. All in all its a very good way to watch TV on your computer.

Interface: The first thing I noticed was the interface. It was very simple and very functional. It has the basic forward, back, pause, and volume controls on the bottom.

The application starts up full screen by default, but can be switched to a windowed mode and resized. Resizing is a bit awkward, but it gets the job done. If the window is resized small enough the controls change to a simplified layout that only allows for volume up/down, next, pause, and switching back to full screen.

Video Quality: The video quality was alright. Sitting a normal distance away from the screen made the full-screen video look a little blocky, but if the window was resized to half-size the video became watchable. The method in which videos are downloaded is based on P2P and works pretty well from what I can tell. In my few hours of watching Joost (over my cable modem connection) it only skipped once or twice for a few seconds.

Channel Selection: The channel listing does need some work. Scrolling through the listing, either with the scrollwheel or with the up/down arrow buttons, is a bit laggy. By default, Joost sets up a custom list of channels called “My Channels” which is a quick way to gain access to your favorite channels. It can be modified to include additional channels available through a catalog. The catalog is packed full of additional content, which they will only add to in the coming months.

Widgets: The widgets idea is nothing new to internet software, but it has some potential in a TV-like application. Right now they only have a handful of widgets including a channel chat, message board, clock, a ratings system, an IM client, and a few others. Its nice that when the slightly transparent widgets slide to the foreground, the show keeps playing in the background.

Ads: The Ad content is only slightly annoying. This is something I can live with. After all, its what pays for the service. They seem to typically be at the start of a show, but I think I’ve seen a few shows with ads placed strategically in the middle.Although Joost is still in beta, most of the features are very usable. With each update to the client they add new features and functionality. I’m sure the few minor glitches that I ran into will be solved before they release the official version.Overall I think Joost is a well designed product. The interface is easy to use and the shows download and play smoothly. I’m not sure what else I would want in an internet-based TV application.

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