As of this Wednesday, which turned out to be a truly weird one with that launch of Sophos’ Klingon Anti-Virus , Windows Media Center has a surprise for PC users that like to rent and watch movies. As Microsoft has announced, the online DVD and Blu-ray Disc rental service Netflix will be integrated in Windows Media Center. Windows users will have access to tens of thousands of movies and TV shows thanks to this new offering – and this is on top of the Sports Channel in Windows Media Center that the Redmond-based software developer rolled out in March.

Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team, Brandon LeBlanc, explains:

“Starting [May 20th], Windows Media Center users who are also Netflix members will gain access to more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly within Windows Media Center on their PCs. Using the two together is easy and convenient. In Windows Media Center, a new Netflix tile will appear under “TV + Movies”. To stream movies and TV shows from Netflix, just click on the new Netflix tile and login with your Netflix account. You will be able to search the entire Netflix library right from Windows Media Center, and manage both your Instant and DVD Queues. Windows Media Center will also take advantage of Netflix’s “recommended” categories.”

You can navigate through the controls and queues in Netflix in Windows Media Player, which is powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, by using your Windows Media Center remote. This offering will work if you have an Xbox Live Gold membership and have been streaming Netflix movies and TV shows to your Xbox 360.

There is one little catch though. Netflix in Windows Media Player, just like the Sports Channel offering launched a couple of months ago, only works if you have Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate.