A while back I posted a bookmarklet (QTYouTube) to load H.264 versions of YouTube videos that the QuickTime plugin plays to avoid using Flash. It has proven very useful to some, but it turns out just recently a better solution has been introduced!

ClickToFlash version 1.4 and later includes functionality to automatically load H.264 versions of YouTube videos, without the need to do anything special.

ClickToFlash is a WebKit plugin that prevents all flash content from loading in Safari. This excellent software prevents runaway CPU usage, and if you’d like to see the Flash content, simply clicking it will cause it to load.

As of version 1.4 a feature has been incorporated to do exactly what the QTYouTube bookmarklet did, replace the flash with a QuickTime compatible H.264 video. With the default settings, control-clicking and choosing “Load h.264″ will load the QuickTime version. You can also go to the Settings (from the Safari->ClickToFlash menu) and choose “Load H.264 videos from YouTube” to automatically do everything for you.

I really want to thank Jonathan ‘Wolf’ Rentzsch, Troy Gaul, and the rest of the team working on this for the excellent plugin and incorporating this feature!