Robin Good: If you are frequently unable to see YouTube videos stream smoothly to your screen, either because your computer is starting to show its age or because your Internet connection is not that fast, this experimental opt-in feature from your YouTube may solve your problem.


Called YouTube Feather, this new feature allows you to access msny YouTube-hosted videos by severely limiting the features available on the page and optimizing the delivery of the video by drastically reducing the amount of data transferred.


"YouTube Feather removes the information panel, share button, most of the related videos, video responses, vote counts on each comment, the medium-size player option, like and dislike counts for the video, and the capability to add the video to a list."


Source: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57475427-285/use-youtube-feather-beta-for-low-bandwidth-connections/



You can try it out now by going to http://www.youtube.com/feather_beta and clicking on "Join the Feather Beta" blue text.


You can also turn off the feature at any time by going back to the above URL and clicking on "Leave the Feather Beta".



You can provide feedback to YouTube about this experimental feature here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/label?lid=31a878cd44b81c60&hl=en


N.B.: The Feather feature may not work on all videos.


(Image credit: http://www.technobuzz.net)