Remember back in September of 2011 when Microsoft declared that Flash Player and other “plugins” would be barred from Metro Internet Explorer? It seems as though that really just isn’t going to happen.
“Flash Player release and debug players will be available and supported for Windows 8 Desktop and Metro style experiences on both x86/64 and ARM platforms.”
-Adobe Roadmap for the Flash Runtimes
“Microsoft received strong customer feedback that Flash is an important part of the Metro style browsing experience and invited us to consider doing this work with their support.”
– Danny Winokur, Adobe
Not only will Flash Player 11 be supported on IE10 Metro – but it will also be available on those systems running on ARM processors! On top of this, Microsoft is using a similar model to the one Google has been using with Chrome – basically baking Flash Player into the browser. This allows not only for tighter integration through sandboxing of resources and permissions – but is also a much nicer experience for the user, since Flash Player is updated automatically for them. There is the issue of a compatibility view list (for both Flash and HTML content) and some concerns around that – but there will be ways of working with that feature of Metro which are still being sorted out.
While adoption of Android and other (non iOS) operating systems on tablets has been quite thin… this is Windows we are talking about here. It really, really matters that Flash Player be available on these machines and in terms of a desktop experience – it also matters because of the potential problems users would jumping between Metro and the “classic” desktop all of the time. With Adobe’s drive to get Flash Player onto browsers in order to expand the world of gaming – this all matters a great deal.
The unfortunate thing about all of this is that I believe (this is just my opinion here) that Microsoft stating “no Flash Player” on Windows 8 Metro was the straw that broke Adobe’s back in terms of what they announced on November 9th in regard to mobile Flash Player for Android. With Apple and Microsoft not allowing Flash Player on the mobile web – it did make some amount of sense to just throw up one’s hands and be done with it. Now with Microsoft back into the mix… the dynamic has shifted SIGNIFICANTLY. Again – just my opinion. Adobe’s stance of Flash Player for Android has not changed with this news.
I don’t want to be harsh on Microsoft for this about-face at all. I’m very happy that they took the time to evaluate the feedback received and the implications of their decisions and changed course. It takes courage to do that and I commend them and Adobe for working this through. How different would the landscape be today if Apple had taken similar measures with their tablet? No one can say.
The Flash Runtimes Whitepaper has been updated with details on this and a few other neat tidbits with a compatibility view list document forthcoming.
This is all splendid news.
“How different would the landscape be today if Apple had taken similar measures with their tablet? No one can say.”
I have followed your blog for quite some time and this is the only silly thing I have ever read. No one can say? Really? The whole Flex/Flash landscape would be completely different. Adobe would be different. The app store would be different.
Flex and Flash would be growing by leaps and bounds…not struggling to maintain it’s relevance (from a purely PR standpoint, not technological standpoint…Flash and Flex are still relevant from a tech standpoint…but Apple and then Adobe have combined to nearly kill it from a PR perspective).
Let’s hope Apache Flex and Windows 8 combine to breath some life back into our favorite software.
Okay – good point. Cannot argue with any of that :)
Very interesting that there is no mention of AIR support whatsoever.
My understanding is that news around AIR is being handled separately from this.
One concern is how Microsoft is whitelisting sites and that only major well know Flash sites will be allowed. As a user, I hope then at least this list can be accessed and editing to add any sites that I want to.
Unfortunately, as a developer, even if a user can add a site, I imagine that most users won’t, which means the stigma of targeting the Flash Player will continue for many companies.
Yes, that part is odd and I do hope there is some mechanism to work with this system of lists they’ve set up. I think it is important to note that the whitelist is not Flash-specific and it is also used for HTML-based content.
First part is really sweet, but there’s a horrible taste when you bite deeper: so now MS is whitelisting the internet? What happened to freedom on the tubes? Is MS gated access better then no access? Its so easy to give up your rights, so convenient.
I don’t believe that the specifics are finalized or that it will end up with the scenario you’ve generalized. Creating a walled garden works fine in the Apple-verse but general Windows users are not going to be happy if they cannot visit their favorite websites. Even if this is what they are planning – I don’t see how Microsoft would not receive and even greater backlash around that than they were given when announcing a Metro without Flash Player.
In general – I’m going to reserve judgement on that piece until more information is made available.
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As you seem to be very accurate on these issues, let me ask one simple question :
When I try to visit some websites with my Vivo equiped with windows rt, It’s just like if I didn’t even have any FPlayer installed…is it because of this whitelist ? What can I do ?
Yeah, sounds like the site isn’t on the whitelist. Can you switch to “desktop mode” and view it? Is there a desktop mode in RT? I’ve heard conflicting info about that.
Else, the website developers can apply to Microsoft to be whitelisted… or you can write Microsoft an angry letter. I do hope they change their mind about this…
Thanks for your quick reply
I feel very sorry not to have ansered you before.
Happy new year !
I couldn’t open any of these sites even on the desktop-mode !
That’s why, I finally found a way; I went to the shop an changed my vivo for an ipad,and… it didn’t change many things about FP issues but this pad is much easier to use (my point of view)…
All the best for 2013