Joost Beta goes Public

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, I’m pretty sure you’ll know what Joost is. In case you have been hiding under those rocks, Joost is a piece of software intended to bring the television to the computer via P2P networks. So the words “television” and “computer” perked your ears and you’re keen to learn more, right? Great, because you can download the program right after this (it was previously invitation-only).

What I first noticed was its change in navigation. Moving from the boring old list to the more graphic-oriented TV-like guide, I was definitely impressed. However, I’m not sure if this was the reason why my computer lagged – it was literally hell and it took me a couple of hours to get where I wanted. I’m not sure if it’s the major demand for Joost that’s burdening the networks, or if it’s just my computer (which was and still is running fine at the moment – lots of “not responding” dialogs when it came to Joost though). Also, the new organization allows for your personal selection of how much results you want to display (reminiscient of Live search).

There’s a much wider variety of shows and you now have the opportunity to create your own channel and choose the shows you want to watch – which didn’t really work for me as I never got that far (again with the “not responding”). Joost’s playback was pretty seamless when my mouse was idle – in fact, I think it was better than the prior versions of Joost.

Last but not least, the graphics changed! The icon still sports the “multicolour” feel, but it’s much more organized and contained within the television (download it and you’ll see what I mean – I know, I sound like a madman, right?).

Joost’s revision looks great, but its performance is definitely not up to par (at least not on my computer – Core 2 Duo with two gigs of ram, basically a well-oiled machine). Perhaps it’s just the initial rush that’s putting the networks to their limits, but I’m hoping that the kinks get worked out. Fast. So I can go back to watching Kanye West vs. 50 Cent (a bit old, I know).

You can download Joost here: http://www.joost.com/download/