Watch Sky programmes with Windows 7

Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, is to offer access to the Sky Player service, offering live and on-demand programmes to Sky customers.

Sky Player will be made available both to existing Sky satellite television subscribers and to new customers who can sign up to access programmes solely on computers. The service will be accessible through the Windows Media Center application included with the Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate versions of Windows 7.

As with the web-based Sky Player service, the Media Center version will not offer high-definition (HD) programmes. A representative of Sky blamed this on the problem of being able to guarantee a suitably fast broadband connection, saying: "We don't feel we can deliver genuine HD to enough people enough of the time."

As well as being viewable on computers running Windows 7, Sky Player will be coming to Xbox 360 consoles on 27 October. The company has not yet announced when the service will be made available to Windows Media Center users.

Subscriptions for Sky Player start at £15 per month for the basic 'entertainment' channels, while the most expensive package, at £41 per month, includes all the Sky sport and movie channels.