Metro version of IE10 to ditch Flash plug in support

The hype for Windows 8 is building up, with many people wondering if Microsoft will drop the ball after the success of Windows 7. The latest news is that the tablet optimised version of Windows 8 will drop Flash support, to concentrate on HTML5. Steve Jobs would be proud.

Apple don't support Flash on their mobile platform, a point made very public in the past. Steve Jobs had dealt with complaints from customers by saying that it was unreliable, have security problems and also negatively effected battery life. Apple have always been keen to promote HTML5 as the safest, most reliable route.

The move for Microsoft however has been a surprise for many, however they claim in their blog that “For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.”

Microsoft also claim that the Metro style plug in free system “improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Plug-ins were important early on in the web’s history. But the web has come a long way since then with HTML5. Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style UI. ”

Compatibility is not a problem as Microsoft add “Most sites work fine in IE without plug-ins; others work fine in IE when IE identifies itself as another browser or runs the site in a different mode.” This has been a talking point for a while now, as even without Flash support, iOS devices will handle sites like Youtube perfectly fine, falling back on fully supported HTML5 content immediately.

Kitguru says: Has Windows 8 grabbed your attention?

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