Metro Internet Explorer 10 to be Plug-in Free
by Andrew Cunningham on September 15, 2011 11:00 AM ESTWhen using the browser's Metro interface, Internet Explorer 10 will be completely plug-in free, says Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch on the Building Windows 8 blog. The new browser will depend largely on HTML5 to serve ads, videos, and other traditionally plug-in-dependent content, which is in line with Apple's current strategy on the iPad. Also similarly, Hachamovitch cites "battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy" as driving reasons to keep IE10 plug-in free.
This decision will most prominently affect Adobe's Flash, which is installed on the vast majority of desktop and laptop computers today and still drives much interactive Web content. In the face of increased competition from HTML5, Adobe has been buffing up both the Flash plug-in and its Flash development tools in recent months - Flash 11, currently available as a release candidate, brings 64-bit and 3D support to the plug-in, while the company is also working on Flash to HTML5 conversion tools. Adobe Edge, a new product currently in a preview state, will also be available to developers looking to replace Flash.
Microsoft's decision to go without plug-ins in its touch interface is an important one, but that doesn't mean they're completely going away - the non-Metro desktop version of IE 10 will still support plug-ins just as the browser currently does. This is consistent Windows 8's "no compromise" design philosophy - bring in the new without completely throwing out the old.
Source: Building Windows 8 Blog
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tipoo - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
Anything with thumbnails on top looks like Apples Mission Control? No. They do completely different things, if anything its more like Opera's full page tabs on top look.iluvdeal - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
Apple not supporting flash on their tablet? Big mistake Apple!Microsoft not supporting flash on their tablet? Smart move Microsoft!
I guess Steve Jobs was on to something...
Booster - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
"This is consistent Windows 8's "no compromise" design philosophy - bring in the new without completely throwing out the old."Excuse me, but this 'new' couldn't replace the old if it tried, Metro doesn't have even most basic multitasking functions of Windows 95. Hell, Win 3.1 was better than this shiny POS.
Say you have that IE 10 open, then where's the rest of your stuff? For example, you could need to browse through files while watching a windowed video clip, or edit something, but with this stupid Metro crap you get just one screen and you can do only one thing at a time.
For example, if I wanted to copy a text for citation from some web page and insert it in a Word document, just how many clicks or movements do I have to perform with Metro? It's even worse than ribbon, people. Hope MS realized this and fires those responsible and this thing needs a major overhaul.
JFish222 - Friday, September 16, 2011 - link
I could see this being a major issue for businesses who started to develop dashboards and line of business apps in Silverlight.While I'm not a fan of the tech, its an improvement over the forms paradigm in certain respects. And they FINALLY beefed it up to the point where it is usable for business applications (the lack of security mechanisms in the initial release was a big no no.)
I'm not saying that HTML5 cannot fill the same roll (and possibly better), just that its sucks for those who already commenced development/deployment.
Maybe they meant "no plugs . . . except that one!" Or they'll call it "integrated" lol.
Anyone hear anything on this?