Hulu has been going great guns since it launched in the United States (and only the United States unfortunately) in 2007. It’s attracted great viewer figures quickly and is currently making YouTube look very amateurish.

Until now, Hulu content has only been available to watch on the Web. But no longer. The company has now released the Hulu Desktop application which, once downloaded, opens up new possibilities. The above video is a walkthrough of the beta version.

The main advantage to the Hulu Desktop app is that it has he capacity to turn watching Hulu into a lean-back activity. That is, it allows you to do it from the comfort of your couch, quite literally leaning back and relaxing.

Which makes the reasons for the whole sorry business with Boxee a few months ago a lot clearer. Hulu wanted to underhandedly get rid of the competition. I’ve looked at this issue in fuller detail on WebTVWire.