AOL on Monday launched a video on-demand service for PCs powered by Intel's Viiv technology platform.

The new service makes it possible for people to watch movies, TV shows, music videos, concerts and other AOL Video content on a TV attached to a Viiv computer. Viiv is a reference design for optimizing a computer for playing audio and video files accessed through the Internet.

Much of the AOL programming for Viiv is ad-supported, so it's available at no charge to consumers. The service includes more than 45 channels of programming, downloadable movies and the ability to search the Web for video. AOL and Intel have jointly developed a user interface to help consumers access video.

In conjunction with the announcement, AOL launched a Digital Lifestyle Web site designed to educate consumers about the use of digital media in the home or on a portable device.

Viiv-based PCs are expected to support high-definition video and surround sound. The technology is designed to enable service providers to include copyright-protection technology and search capabilities.

In January, Intel and Google made a similar announcement for the search engine's video service.