Critics are lining up as NBC announces its online video tech for distributing Olympic coverage.

NBC Olympics on the Go, from NBC and broadband media company Wavexpress, is a podcast-like service to let users pick their favorite sports and have coverage automatically downloaded after NBC broadcasts each event from China.  However, the service is only available for PC users running Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium PC. So, pfftp to XP, Mac, and Linux users.  There's also a video player to be downloaded and details needed be worked. Reports say event coverage will be available 12 hours after an event and downloaded coverage should be playable for at least the duration of the games.

Microsoft had already cut a deal for its Silverlight environment to be the cornerstone of NBC Olympic distribution, so people shouldn't be too surprised about the Vista-only hook for Olympic footage.  However, the move may not go over well in Europe and other places where Microsoft is seen as acting in a monopolist fashion.  Goodness knows what the Football/Soccer fans might do.

Mobility plans have not been announced yet, leading to speculation that something might appear in a Zune format since NBC broke off its distribution deal with iTunes.

For more
- Wired reports on NBC Video Distribution for the Beijing Olympics [1]
- Ars Technica Vista-only Olympics [2] piece

Related articles:
The Olympics [2], Car Porn, and Online Syndication
American Gladiators Flag Embarrass All Around [2]