After years of speculation, Netflix has finally launched an online video service. Starting today, a small number of Netflix users will find "watch now buttons" next to about a thousand of the 70,000 videos available through the Netflix web site. All users should have access to the online video service by the end of June.

When I'd first heard that Netflix would be entering the online video game, I was pretty excited. But that was in 2005. Now everyone seems to have an online video store: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, AOL, CinemaNow, MovieLink etc. Still, I'm willing to give Netflix the benefit of the doubt, since they were kind of pioneers in using the internet to deliver video.

So how does the service work? Well, as you're making selections on the Netflix website, some movies will have a little "watch now" button. The first time you click on it, you'll have to install a browser applet, which is supposed to take about a minute. From then on, any time you click watch now, you'll be able to start watching a movie within 10 to 15 seconds.

The movie opens inside of your browser (I hope there's a full screen option), and you can pause, or jump around in the movie using a position bar. You'll need an internet connection of 1Mb/second to take advantage of the service, and the higher your connection speed, (up to 3Mb/second), the higher quality your video feed will be.

Unlike most movie download services, which charge you per download, Netflix will stick with the subscription model. That's not to say your $17.99 a month will give you access to unlimited movies. For $5.99 a month, you'll have access to six hours of online movie watching per month, while for $17.99 you'll get access to 18 hours. I think that's on top of your usual DVD rental services, rather than in addition to, but it's not entirely clear from the press release.