by 
Updated on December 10, 2021
A whole month of being back in the realm of Apple has passed…
The highlight of the past week Mac-wise was getting streaming video to my Xbox set up. On one side, it’s a lot easier to get streaming up and running than it was on Linux. On the other side, the Xbox is still fairly finicky and Windows-oriented.
Among the programs I tried:
- PS3 Media Server: A Java-based program with cross-platform (Mac, Windows, and Linux) support. While it works, it felt a bit rough in parts, and doesn’t support fast-forwarding or rewinding videos.
- Plex: Plex is a rather elaborate media server solution. However, I think it’s a bit too elaborate/complicated for my purposes. For some reason, it also ignored my existing media folders/iTunes setup in favor of its own system. Plex also couldn’t import my TV shows under the “TV” setting, but did under “Movies,” albeit with each show listed individually (and not by show title).
- Connect360: A $20 program (though a trial version’s offered), Connect360 is fairly simple, but worked well. Since the trail version only made five videos available, I wasn’t sure if it’d respect my existing folder structure or could play everything. Connect360 does allow for fast-forwarding and rewinding.
- Rivet: While Rivet’s ceased development, the developers have decided to offer it for free. Some remarks online claim it wouldn’t work on Mountain Lion, but it works on my Mac. Rivet works similarly to Connect360, respected my existing folder structure, and was much more lightweight than Plex. The only flaw is it wouldn’t play one of my videos, which happens to be the only one I have that’s bigger than 2GB.
For now, I’ll stick with Rivet, since it seems to be working fine. Those wanting something not discontinued might want to go with Connect360. Note that while the above programs also support streaming music, it’s not something I’ve tried.
