Movies, TV shows to download

The new “X-Men” movie and television shows like “24” are coming to a computer near you.

Fox will start selling movies and television shows this fall that users can download for computer playback and transfer to devices running Microsoft’s Windows Media Player technology.

Movies available in October include “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties,” “The Omen” and “Thank You for Smoking.” Availability through Fox’s Direct2Drive service will be concurrent with the DVD release.

Also, Direct2Drive will make available Fox’s “24” and “Prison Break” and FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” within 24 hours of each episode’s broadcast.

Other movies and shows will be added later.

Movies will sell for about $20 and TV shows for $1.99 an episode.

Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes Music Store already sells many television shows, including “24” and others from Fox, for $1.99 apiece. But those can be played only on the company’s iPod devices or through its iTunes software on a computer.

The movies and TV shows from Twentieth Century Fox will carry copy protection, limiting playback to two Windows computers, each supporting one portable device.